


The Way Home.

by Junion_Pintal



Series: The Epiloges of Team TerraFlare [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, More Fluff Than Your Body Can Handle, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-07-11 05:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 91,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15965495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junion_Pintal/pseuds/Junion_Pintal
Summary: The team has been formed, the trust of your partner has already been gained.  The world saved from it’s peril, and the human turned pokemon has been sent back to where he came from.  But the world is still practically destroyed and he is needed in other ways.However something goes wrong in the transfer, and the human winds up much weaker than he ever planned to be.  Thankfully his starter pokemon from the human world is there with him, but even she is starting to act different to her trainer, who is now the first evolution of her line.And so starts the 'postgame' for this set of Mystery Dungeons.  Gleam never expected his return to leave him in this sort of state.  Weakened, unable to fight, fragile.  Leaving him to be required to rely on his starter pokemon to take care of him.  And he's slowly reminded of all in the world that hurt him, as well as discovering the permanency of his weakened state, what happens when the hero of a Mystery Dungeon adventure, and accomplished trainer in a Nuzlocke like world is finally allowed to crack?The start of The Epilogues of Team TerraFlare.  Gleam and his Delphox Pele travel The Way Home.





	1. A Prologue to the Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prologue of things to come. Gleam has spent a few months back in the human world now, slowly getting used to being a human trainer again. When he is offered the chance to return to the world he was ripped away from it's the chance of a lifetime, but what of those pokemon he now trains. Especially his starter who has been with him through his entire pokemon journey...

He could feel her stare on his back. It was now common to him after a battle when the wild pokemon survived. He couldn’t really stop himself from tending to the pokemon, making sure it would be able to live after he left, besides he could still use wish, oddly enough. She never really seemed to judge him, she just watched with the most perplexed look on her face. He understood her confusion, all of them were needing to get used to the new him. And he had to get used to them again as well, he had to get used to no longer fighting, to only commanding. To teaching them how to fight, teaching them the moves, teaching them how to be a cohesive team, and yet never joining in himself. But to what end, just to bully more wild pokemon, what if they had family and homes. The upcoming competitions were a his original goal but he had lost his love of them, even if some of his team were looking forward to testing themselves. He couldn’t stand to see them get hurt, possibly die, just to see how strong they might be. He shook his head for the moment at his thoughts then noticed the morelull under his care started to come to, he smiled and shhhed to it a moment, as he began to speak in his fenneken accent.

“Don’t worry, yes you lost, but I made sure you’ll heal and get better. Be careful about picking fights with strangers, especially those who carry these balls like I do. Especially if they have a fire type at their side. I’ll leave you here to heal and be on my way. You fought well.”

As he started to stand up he sighed as he began to hear the morelull speak..like so many he had heard before that he healed.

“You speak as one of us? Never mind, please you seem to have taught those with you well, how can I become stronger, can you make me strong as well? I want to join you if you’ll let me.”

These talks never went well. Especially since at one time he would have jumped at the chance at any pokemon that would willingly enter into contract to train with him, any species he’d take...any at all. If it meant training them to be stronger, fighting wild pokemon...but even this battle where he was attacked and merely defended himself made him feel sick in his stomach. He did what he could to explain he was having issues training..that something happened, something big, and his will to train as he once was has largely been lost, that the team with him now he made a promise to before and planned to keep, and that was the only reason he kept them.

He felt bad leaving behind another pokemon that actually wanted to work with a human trainer, but he just couldn’t make that commitment anymore. Taking the chance of making another pokemon friend who might only wind up dying due to an accident in a battle later. Besides the morelull reminded him of Shii who lived on that island. He didn’t want Shii on his mind while he battled.

He turned back to her finally, still watching..her face still contorted in odd thought. He walked over and gave her a light hug, and he and his delphox continued on their walk to the next town. She finally started to speak up.

“Was it really necessary to use our supplies on a pokemon you don’t plan to train?” She quieted down a moment to think then started up again. “I do not mean this to call into question your methods of training, I just wish to know what you are thinking. What happened to you. Why do you toss and turn as you sleep constantly now?” She went quiet for a few seconds again, “Why can you now understand us, all of us? And you can speak like a kit. Gleam, please I wish to know what happened to my partner who I started this journey with.”

Gleam listened, he was used to some of this ranting before. He didn’t expect to still understand pokemon when he came back, but he did. That was a pleasant enough surprise, but when he discovered he could still speak like a fennekin. Well that really made all of his pokemon, especially Pele look at him in surprise. So this rant wasn’t new to him, he paused though as she finished. If he still had his ears they would surely be perked up right now, he never expected to hear that again...partner. But isn’t that what she was in this world, he started his journey with her, she helped him capture his first few pokemon, and has always been at his side, in this world. Just like Flint, he missed Flint sooo badly, he shook his head quickly he didn’t need think on that pup. He looked back to Pele a moment, nodding, giving her a hug taking in a breath.

“I understand I.” He shook his head, looking around, then strolled off the path and motioned her to follow. He hmmd a little bit, looking to her again, then his pokeballs. After a moment of thought and checking the area he tapped them releasing his 5 other pokemon. He took a breath and put on a smile, “I know it’s a bit early in the day but we’ll make camp here. I think it’s time we all talked.” His various pokemon, an agron, a vikavolt, a ribombee, a crabominable, a klefki, and of course Pele all sounded out their agreement. At which point he started his newest thing with them, giving them tasks for helping set up camp. It took awhile but they got used to the idea, now they naturally went off to their various tasks. Soon enough camp was set up, a pile of logs ready to go, each of the pokemon having their own area to relax. He even purchased extra tents, the pokemon getting to rest in them as needed.

Gleam stood before them after a bit, “So…” He paused, “Honestly this is a bit hard for me to start on. But you guys have been my partner” He nodded to Pele, “My team. My family really, we’ve been through a lot together. And it’s only fair I give you all an explanation for why I have...changed so much. And part of it is I have a new realization on what exactly all of that means, and just how true it is.” He lets out a breath and sighed, “To start off, most of you seem to accept I’m capable of truly understanding what you say now, and that I can even speak to you like I am now. I think we can start off with a demonstration of something else I’ve kept quiet about because, well, you guys I feel it’s ok to know, but other humans I’m not quite sure how revealing this would go.” He walked over to the fire pit, concentrated a moment, then put out his hand and shot an ember into the pile of wood lighting it on fire.

Immediately his pokemon were all abuzz talking amongst themselves, “Wait you used an actual elemental move?” “He used a move?” “I thought the humans one weakness was they couldn’t use moves?” “Owne--I mean Gleam how did you do that?”

He let them go for a bit then asked them to quiet down gently, “My ability to use moves, to talk as a pokemon, and to understand pokemon. They are all gifts. When I disappeared, I was sent somewhere to help a lot of pokemon in need. In that time I was gone I had only them to rely on, no other humans, and yes I could talk with them.” He paused a moment, letting that sink in, his Crabominable spoke up, “Sent somewhere? Where were you sent?”

 

Gleam nodded a moment, “Oh right Snift, It’s hard to explain but, remember the whole thing with ultra beasts? How they came from another world through a wormhole? Similar idea, but this world had more pokemon, who had built their own little town. And...these special dungeon type areas that I don’t want to bother to explain. Since none of you will ever see it.” Snift nodded

His Ribombee was up next looking to him, “Gleam honey how did you ever manage to do it without us though. So many other pokemon, and none of us to fight with you.” he just smiled a moment then sighed, “When I first woke up there, there was a rockruff named Flint. He found me clinging unconscious to a log that just washed up in a cave he used as his personal hideout and home. He helped me greatly, he.” Gleam paused a moment, looking to Pele then to the rest, “He pretty much became my partner in that world, helped me understand how it works, and it was with his help we finished why I was there..and I got sent back.”

Pele frowned a bit, lately her personal favorite position had been hugging with him, or holding him in some way, she pulled him back close to her, “So you pretty much spent all of your time learning how to talk with pokemon, then with the help of this rockruff did something as big as the stuff with the ultrabeasts here?” Gleam chuckled, “Well honestly there is a lot more to it than that I’m, leaving out more than a few things because, well, honestly I’m still trying to figure out how to say it, like why my accent is fennekin. Why they trusted me if no humans were ever there. I want to tell I just, it all sounds so impossible and fantastical. I’m just.” he shook his head, “I’m glad all of you trust me enough to not see me as bein--” Pele shushed him at that point, pulling his head to her chest, “Now now, stop that. You’re our trainer...you see us as more now but you’ve always been our trainer. I just..I miss spending time with you and I wo----”

She was cut short as a portal opened up near the group, a celebi popping out of it, looking around quickly then spotting the small campsite. Pele had already moved her trainer off of her and was getting ready to fight when the celebi waved and Gleam put a hand on her, “Pele hold back, this is a...friend.” He looked at the celebi who nodded then began to speak, “Finally I remembered when and where you were Gleam. I’m sorry I took so long to find you again but I came to offer you something...a reward..a way of saying thank you. It would also be a favor to myself. I was checking up on the islands, the pokemon there miss you greatly, and could use a bit of direction still.” The celebi scratched the back of it’s head a bit unassuredly, “And looking through a bit of time I have seen how unhappy you have been here. I don’t need you to save the world...but instead to help rebuild a society.”

Gleam was already starting to perk right up even as the celebi spoke, a chance to go back, to see his friends again. To get away from the expectation to put his friends lives on the line. To instead help those back in the world..then he paused looking to Pele..looking to the rest of his team. He went quiet, shaking his head, closing his eyes as he considered more. “I would love to but, I still have those here who count on me, who need me. And my partner here would miss me too.” he gave Pele a hug.

She looked up at celebi, “You’re the one who took him away from me? And you wish to do it again after he just got back?” She took out her wand, Gleam put his hand over her wand, celebi frowned. While the other pokemon watched the rukus, wary, but not as drawn to attack..

The aggron spoke up. “I’m sorry Pele I know you missed him, we all missed him. But look how unhappy he is, even just to see us fight. He was willing to stay, for us. But having us fight, training us to fight, all of that, it upsets him now.” The aggron looked to Gleam, “I know the rest will agree, we will miss you, but if leaving will make you happy. We cannot hold you back, just as you tried to not hold us back. You have trained many of us strong already, I’m sure some other trainer would make use of us. Or we can find some other use for our skills. We will be fine, we are strong thanks to you already.” The aggron puts a claw on Pele gently, she looks to him, to the celebi, to the other pokemon who nod.

But all Pele can do is cry softly, “But we just got him back Mac can’t you see that, we were to start journeying together again. To be together again. This isn’t fair to us...to me…” Gleam sighed shaking his head, looking up to celebi, he hugged around Pele, pulling her close, “I’m sorry Celebi but, there are those who do count on me, and those I care for greatly here as well, it feels wrong to leave my partner again.” As the rest of his pokemon disagree, urging him to take his own happiness Celebi spoke up.

“I may have a solution. Due to the circumstances that might happen, it may be best if you go there with an experienced pokemon anyway. It would allow less drain on my powers. I could allow her to go as well.” Pele perked up, hugging her trainer closer, “I I’d be ok with that, just to be near him again.” While Gleam looked up, “Can you give me time to get to a pokemon center..and speak to a few people. I need to let them know to not worry about me, and to help the rest of my friends find good trainers or jobs after I leave.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I know I know I just got back, but I’ve been unhappy. I’m not the person I used to be, I can’t stand to watch battles anymore. To see them fight just for show. Pele will be with me, but the rest, they need good homes, good trainers, good jobs. I trust you can find them for me please? And don’t worry about looking for me.”

“Gleam, it just sounds like you are putting yourself in danger, disappearing on us, telling us not to follow, it all sounds...unsavory. What will you be doing my boy, what has gotten into yo--” The professor is cut short as a celebi comes into focus next to Gleam waving to the professor. Gleam looks over sighs, then smiles, “It won’t be horrible I promise….this is my ride to the new place. You trust him right?”

The professor finds himself relatively speechless, that a legendary such as celebi is there for his protegee, after that goodbyes are said, while the celebi, Pele, and Gleam walk out. Gleam now having just Pele’s pokeball, the three moving to a more secluded area.

“So Celebi anything to warn me about, last time I lost my memory what will happen this time.”

The celebi just laughed a moment shaking it’s head, “Don’t worry most of that was due to me giving you all of that knowledge at once, I don’t need to mess with your head again as you still remember most of it. Though I should warn you, you might not be as strong as you are used to, I didn’t expect you to need that body again. And you may have some issues for the first bit of time, both mental and physical, which is why it’s best Pele is there, she won’t need any changes to her body. And can aid you while you get your legs back under you again.” Pele looked on, this wasn’t something she had heard before, “What are you two talking about, memory loss, changes, you two are acting like Gleam is going to evolve or something.” Celebi began to talk but Gleam cut him short, “Don’t worry too much Pele, it’s easier to explain on the other side just..make sure you look out extra hard for me ok.” he looked over to the celebi, “So it’s just go back..and help rebuild what was lost right?” The celebi nodded, “I should warn you I’ll be returning you back close to where you left, it looks better now but you’ll have a dungeon to go through.” Gleam laughed a moment, “I’ll look forward to fighting the fakes again, instead of watching real mon duke it out. Come on let’s go before someone finds us.”

Celebi opened another portal..looking to the trainer and his pokemon, nodding to the two as they step through the portal. Holding onto one another, and then all became a field of starry black. As they were dragged through the starry expanse, Gleam began to groan, fighting to hold onto consciousness, holding Pele, she could feel his grip loosening, holding him tightly, “Gleam what’s wrong, gleam.” he just groaned again, ‘can’t..stay...awake, just keep a grip.” He slowly slipped out of consciousness, Pele holding onto him worriedly, as darkness overtook, his body began to feel odd to her. While the unconsciousness was truly a kindness to Gleam, so he didn’t need to experience his body actually transforming forcibly….Pele just held close to him..but soon began to see light at the end of the tunnel, the two dragged towards it...till the two left the other end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the prologue to the epilogues went on longer than I meant it to. But I wanted to show returning to the world from the trainer’s perspective, as well as put a few things in place for later. Honestly I imagine professor oak as his professor, but I’m not quite sure who his professor is, I just know the professor loves him greatly and worries over Gleam as if he is his own son.
> 
> Yes upon returning Gleam could speak pokemon, he could understand, and yes he could use some moves. It’s seen as a consolation prize that he retains some of his abilities upon returning. Given his personality wish seemed one of the better choices for abilities..and fennekin could learn it.
> 
> So I’ve offered little backstory to everything, but most of what he did as a “explorer of the cosmos” isn’t really important to know. If world mechanics or past events become important I’ll let it be know...this will include mentioning a quirk in how mystery dungeons can work. Yeah I’m following the line of pokemon in mystery dungeons are largely illusions made by the dungeon. With occasional real pokemon being found lost/wandering/seeking challenges, etc. Recruiting a wandering pokemon is possible..and would be how things work.
> 
> And yeah..partial nuzlock world, losing does not mean dieing, just majory injury, and death is generally accidental unless against someone who is being ruthless.
> 
> Feel free to leave a bit of feedback if you like.


	2. My Trainer Is A Pokemon?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pele and Gleam arrive on the Pokemon world, on the far side of one of the more difficult dungeons on the islands. They begin their journey back to the base of Gleam’s expedition team. But Pele discovers a quite important problem along the way.
> 
> If you have read this chapter before and it was an ellipsis filled mess with several glaring bad spots of grammar, word choice and so on. Go ahead and give it another read I’ve actually got it edited now. And some parts of the story has changed here and there.

At most she could say she was unsure.  She didn’t care about going to a different world.  She didn’t care about training to beat a gym. She had missed her trainer, her partner the whole time he went missing.  She now understood why his attitude changed when she said the word partner, he had forged a similar relationship with another pokemon.  Part of her tried to feel betrayed, but he had to rely on someone, even if he somehow could use a pokemon move, he still needed pokemon to fight with him.  Even she could see that he was unhappy, perhaps if they had more time together, and he could talk with her she would have been happy with him leaving back to this world without her.  But it just didn’t feel fair he was barely back at all and was finally starting to open up. So of course when they said she could come with him she jumped at the chance.

Now she’s staring into some kind dimensional hole, holding onto her trainer’s hand.  And at the urging of the celebi, she and her trainer entered into the hole. Immediately she could feel it pulling them, as much as they walked, it more pulled them along.  Then she started to feel Gleam’s grip slacken and she heard him start to groan. As she asked what was happening she just heard him reply to keep a grip, even as his lessened and lessened, she couldn’t stand it already, she had spent all that time worrying, now what was happening to him, why was he passing out, his hand gripped less and less.  She was starting to panic and began doing what she could to hold him, she didn’t need to walk they were being pulled along anyway. She turned, going to hug around him, she couldn’t see much though, it was far too dark. But even as she tried to hug him, she squeezed his hand, he wasn’t even gripping anymore, and that hug, her arms went around him too easily.  Was she losing him? What was going on? No, she couldn’t lose him again, not when he let her come with him. Tears welled up at the thought of him disappearing on her again, but it felt like she wasn’t even holding onto much, she had something, but it was small, was it just his bag and backpack? She worried as the other end of the portal pulled her into it. “Gleam, Gleam please don’t leave me again.  Not now, not now.” She cried out in worry, in anguished pain, in fear. She ignored the slight tingling she felt herself, even when it went to her mental spaces as if some kind of bond was dissolving, more worried about her partner, than whatever she felt.

When she opened her eyes she found herself in what looked to be a recovering landscape.  Halfway up a volcano, the side of it gouged out. Plantlife was slowly returning to the area, small tufts of grass growing here and there.  She shivered, was she alone again? Then she heard it, a soft snore coming from her arms. She wasn’t alone, what did she hold? She began looking, there was her trainer's bag and beneath it was...

She paused, startled, she was holding a fennekin.  Though something seemed off, his fur seemed pale, and though she had nothing really to measure it by, he looked like he was on the small side for a fennekin.  Was this Gleam? She wasn’t sure, some of his stuff was here, even her pokeball he kept a hold of. But her human trainer wasn’t here just a fennekin, is this why he could learn moves?  Is this part of what he kept quiet, he did mention he was leaving out more, he did say the world had no humans, did he mean even he wasn’t human? She held the fennekin close, while she searched to see what else made it through.  She found the bag of natural supplies he carried, there’s the badge he brought back with him, she grabbed and kept hold of her pokeball, seeing nothing else around, and feeling worried about being exposed on this volcano she took the items and the fennekin, hopefully Gleam, and started to make her way down the side, looking for somewhere safer to wait out the small foxtype sleeping.  She wanted to wake him up, but some part of her said the fennekin needs to be let sleep.

A short walk down the pathway found the two at what she could only describe as ruins.  It looked like a few small houses, unusually shaped. But most of them had holes in them, the ground had craters in it.  But a good part of the damage had shown wear and tear from the natural elements. She looked into a building and after making sure it was decently safe settled inside.  Looking over what was available in the supplies they had kept. It seemed mostly a few berries made it over. She couldn’t find any of the normal healing items that Gleam carried, no potions, no elixirs, no revives.  She was going to need to be careful. She and the kit, Gleam, she reminded herself, could probably make a meal off of the berries, but more would need to be found.

She perked when she felt the bundle she was holding try to move his legs.  She lightly stilled them so he wouldn’t wind up falling, she watched. Seeing lil eyes fluttering, she admired them, then remembered, “Gleam, Gleam?  It is you right Gleam? Are you ok?” She waited while she watched the kit, she smiled warmly a moment when he pushed further into her fur, as if enjoying the closeness then she perked her ears as the lil fennekin spoke finally, “I I’m ok, wh what h h h happened.”  She listened to that haltering voice, he sounded dazed, she let out her breath, he seemed rather disoriented and confused. She gave him a soft squeeze, hoping to help him stay comfortable, and felt him squirm more then perked, “Pele, p please tell me. I I I’m confused c c can’t remember a a lot.”  With that she let out a heavy sigh, she thinks the celebi mentioned something about memory loss. Still he recognized her, and there was mention it wouldn’t be as bad, maybe she just needed to jog his memory.

“Well, where to start Gleam.  Half way through the portal here, you started to pass out, and told me to hold onto you.”  She paused, should she mention, yeah she’ll mention, “I thought I had lost my grip on you once we came out the other side, I couldn’t see my human partner anywhere.  But after a short time I realized I was holding something. A fennekin.” She paused to see if he could catch up. She could see the wheels turning in his head, especially as he stopped blinking his eyes, looking up at her, then around.  A small blush formed on his muzzle, she wondered why, and he started to squirm a moment more in her arms, she started to shh him when instead he spoke up, “Pele, you don’t need to hold me, I should get used to a body like this again.” She perked, noticing that use of again, she was right he had transformed before, but something about letting him down for now felt, wrong.  Like it might be bad for him to be let down on the ground. Instead she lifted him up more, careful of his legs as he started to flail them, then shhhhed to him gently, getting his movements to slow down, she carefully set him on her shoulder, “Come on Gleam I sat on your shoulder so often when I was a fennekin I can only return the favor.” She giggled lightly at the thought of the turned tables then turned her head to nose at his muzzle, grinning when he returned it by reflex, before stopping himself and blushing.   
  
Gleam looked around the building curiously and while he was distracted with remembering things she pulled out a few berries, bringing one right up to his maw, “Here you go Gleam you’re probably hungry by now arn’t ya?”  She watched his face..as he scrunched a moment, then ate the berry out of her paw, his tail wagging made her feel rather happy and pleased, while Gleam had to get in his own comment, “Ok fine fine you got to feed me for once, happy?”   She smiled warmly, nodding and rubbing her head on his. She felt he didn’t need to know she actually enjoyed doing that, it felt oddly natural. She was glad to still have her Gleam, and to take care of the little fennekin.

Gleam twitched his tail then yawned and stretched, “What are we inside of?  This place looks...run down, familiar but...that's it.” Pele shrugged a moment, “A small set of ruins, I guess with you awake it might be ok to go back out.  I just wanted a safe place to wait while you came to. We are on the side of a volcano, looks like part of it got blown out though.” She got up, taking their supplies with her as she went back out the entrance, letting Gleam get a good look.  She watched him curiously, he went still on her shoulder, his face pailed, his eyes grew wide, he suddenly yelped, “get back, get back to the entrance hurry.” Jumping off her shoulder, almost falling on his face despite landing on all fours, and dashed towards the other side of the ruins, opposite from where they came in, and hunkered under an outcropping, looking at the ruins fearfully, watching the rooftops, his body curled up as if waiting for something to brace against.  She looked around quickly then followed him as fast as she could, kneeling down beside him. She watched him with a frown, what was going on, she didn’t see anything, she didn’t know what to do but if there was trouble here they better leave. She reached under the outcropping, and begin to slowly and carefully put her arms around him, he flinched and whined, crying out softly, “No, No don’t, don’t make them! Noo!” She frowned, not knowing what was going on, but she couldn’t detect anything near them.  She lightly picked Gleam back out, who whimpered a moment more, tears flowing down his eyes, his maw held open softly in horror. She carefully checked his legs and feet, trying to find if he hurt himself, he winced as she touched a forepaw and leg, though he still stayed huddled up to her. She frowned much more, he’s hurt himself and she has no idea what he just saw, she needs to get him somewhere safe, so with him in her paws she walked on down the path, away from the ruins, petting and rubbing over him till he calmed down.

Gleam took his time, she caught his eyes welling up, then he shook his head, gasping a bit, looking to Pele with a blush and he shook himself, taking a few more breaths, shifting in place then sighed, “s s s sorry th..that was,” his ears folding, he took a few more breaths, Pele frowned a bit as he tried to speak and shhed at him softly, the fennekin quieted down, blinking and looking up at her, she lightly pet his head, held him close to her then she spoke up, “Gleam you’re a bit upset right now.  If you tried to talk you’ll just stumble over your words.” She gave off a soft sigh, “Maybe I should have let you talk but, I don’t know where we are and I’m not sure what dangers may lurk here. I can’t detect anything nearby, but right now I’m not sure how well I can protect a kit if someone heard you.” She nuzzled him lightly and gave him an affectionate lil lick on his forehead.

For a few seconds Gleam seemed to have forgotten how to talk, his muzzle opening and closing, then he earfolded indignantly, he shook his head quickly and whined, then finally seemed to pick up how to talk again, “I I I know how to fight, I I’m not helpless in a fight.”  he blurted out, half whining as he spoke, “I I’ve already traveled this path, in the opposite direction with a rockruff and a gallade, and I did hold my own. Y you don’t need to coddle me the whole way really, we’re partners that means I hold my own!” he wriggled more and managed to right himself in Pele’s arms, before jumping to the ground, wincing a moment, taking a half stumble before continuing on, “C come on, I I remember where we are now.  The volcano was known as snowtop, before a big incident. Right now we are on what was known as snowtop’s path, and we are past the dungeon and forest called Dusk Forest. Now come on if we are going to get to headquarters we need to get going.”

Pele frowned a moment, she did not expect him to go off like that, and she frowned more as she saw him pad off, limping on that one leg a bit, she quickly followed behind, but something he said struck her as odd, and worrisome.  She finally moved up quickly beside him, “Gleam please don’t rush, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend I just, I’m just worried, you’re still recovering it seems, you just hurt yourself back there doing something I did thousands of times as a fennekin.”  She frowned, “Gleam, I feel there is something more wrong with you. You mentioned earlier, before we came here, that dungeons are dangerous, and there is something I’m worried about even more.” She thought, his reactions to her has been odd, and he seems to be pushing back against something else, she wondered.  “Gleam stop.” He perked a moment, then gulped, slowing down and stop eventually looking up, “Um, y yes?” Pele looked at him a bit more worried, but filed that reaction for later first things first, “Ok Gleam I need you to do something simple, use ember on me.”

Gleam paused, blinking, then whined, shaking his head, “Pele I don’t want to attack you, we’ve got to conserve resources at---”  Pele shushed him quickly and looked him in the eye, thought a moment and hmmed, “Gleam use ember now.” Gleam whined more, ears falling, she saw him trying to resist the urge, but he finally started to use the move, opening his maw and, he squeaked a bit as nothing came out.  He looked panicked a moment, and tried again, and again, and again. Pele perked, watching him, frowning, “Gleam stop! Now! You’ll damage your inner flame! Lets try something easier. Gleam try scratching me.” he whined softly, ears folding, but did as she asked without hesitation, scratching at her.  Pele watched him in both amusement that he was obeying her for once and worrying over the strength of his attacks, she didn’t even flinch as the attack connected and she took negligible damage from it. She shhed at the fennekin a moment, just trying to make a soothing sound to him, “try tail whip then.” Gleam blushed, but wagged his tail and looked up at her a bit happily, making her heart melt a moment with a giggle and she picked him up, “Well that one works pretty well I think.”

Pele looked to him a moment more, “That settles that, I don’t care what you could do before.  If your attacks are like that..if your inner fire is so weak you can’t even cough up an ember.  I hate to think what your defenses would be like. If this dungeon took three of you to handle, and your inner fire was strong enough for attacks more powerful than ember.  I think you’ll go down too easily. And you are right, we are partners, that also means I’ll carry you through when you need me to, just like you took care of me when I needed it.”  Gleam really earfolded then, eyes watering softly and all he could manage was a whimpery “I’m sorry.” He then squeaked out something much quieter. Pele held him close and earperks, “what was that?”  Gleam shivers speaking up louder, “I I said it was f four of us.” He let that hold awhile then sighed, “I in the dungeon that is, we, we lost Fulger, a a Luxray” He shuddered more and went quiet. Pele frowned a moment more considering what he said and she shhed to him softly and hopefully soothingly, lightly bouncing his body as she walked with him down the road, she spied a twig and to help him feel a bit better grabbed it and offered it to him, “Go on, a bit of a snack will prob help you, and you need to feed your fire for now ok?”  The small fennekin nodded slowly, and soon enough he was nibbling away at the stick, his paws guiding it while she held it, she smiled watching the action, but she felt a bit heartbroken. He didn’t look too happy and she could guess why, he’s now been reminded of yet another loss and she knows how she’d feel if suddenly she couldn’t use any of her attacks. That celebi did mention a few other things, though she can’t remember what all was mentioned but she did remember, that it would be good for another pokemon to be near him for now, this might be what she meant, that he’d be a lot weaker.

She needed to take his mind off things, she also needed more info on this world, “Hey Gleam, the other pokemon you knew, what did all of you do?”  Gleam earfolded a bit but perked up after a second, “Well un, until the big issue with Necrozma happend here as well, we had a uh, exploration team.  That, that badge I have, it’s what shows I was a member. It’s also a bit of a command module..” He thought for a moment, “now they are down one useful fire type.”  Pele shhed softly, “I’m sure you’ll recover whatever is going on soon enough.” Gleam looked up to her, “But...it’s a lot like the pokemon journey we humans did. But we had a base to return to each day.  Find and explore different places, explore mystery dungeons, help pokemon in need, capture pokemon who were causing trouble, and other general helpings like getting an item from a dungeon for a pokemon, or escorting them through a dungeon if they needed it.”  Gleam paused, “Do we still have that badge? Can you give it to me?”

Pele listened to the shortened explanation, and considered on how much it did sound like some of the stuff they would do anyway, going somewhere just to see what’s there, exploring places, helping those in need, defeating bad guys.  She perked at the request of the badge but handed it over and watched the kit check it out..then smiled as he perked up his ears all excited. “I I I’m still a founder!” Gleam exclaimed happily, then looked up, “I..it means I have a lot of stuff I can do, form teams from members, and such..but a big one for me is that it means I can add new members too.  Pele I know you don’t want to do it..but to head to a home we’ll hafta go through a mystery dungeon. I’ll need to figure out some way to help, but if you are on my expedition Team, well, somehow the badge can make sure it’s harder for us to be seperated. I’ll just give you a quick induction then we can figure it out from there, ok?” Pele smiled at his excitement, then frowned, she didn’t want to take him into danger if she could help it, but he might have a point.  But joining this team sounded both important to him, and like a way to stay connected if they lose each other, she nodded, “Ok, let’s do it then.”

Gleam wiggled, “Set me down, on a rock or something I need to present the badge to you, and you need to hold your hand over it.”  She did as instructed, finding a decently high treestump, giving the badge over to Gleam who carefully held it in his paw, then did his best to look official.  Looking to her and cleared his throat, all to aware now that his voice sounded rather squeaky, “Do you promise to uphold the tradition of the explorer. To discover all the world has to offer.  To find that which was lost. To bring down those who set others low. And to help those in need?”

Pele looked on a moment as she was asked..a rather simple oath..but covered all he said they did, then she nodded, “Yes gleam I do.”

Gleam smiled, “then please put your hand on the badge.”  As the delphox did so he began to speak. “Pele I, Founder Gleam, hereby deem you a new member in good standing of Team TerraFlare.”  A light shown from the badge, as a soft voice emerged. “Delphox Pele, registered as a member. Authorization given by founder. Delphox Pele, welcome to the team.”  Pele considered it a moment, this reminded her of the first time she was in a pokeball, but very different feeling, the pokeball gave her a trainer, this, she just felt like she gained a family.  The badge then went quiet, Pele looking at it, then at Gleam. Who fiddled with the badge a moment more. “Give recruit Pele the status trusted.” A light shone a moment, then a soft tone sounded in acknowledge what Gleam said.

Pele giggled a moment then smiles, “Team TerraFlare really?  What is with that name.” Gleam blushed a moment, “I was put on the spot..Flint had invited me to found the team with him, but had no choice for a name..other than pokepals, I ah came up with that idea because rock and fire...and he went with it.”  Pele smirked and hugged him close, then the small fennekin looked up with a yawn, she hmmed lightly, stating to rock the lil kit in her arm, listening as Gleam started to talk with a bit of embarrassment in his voice “Oh Pele...I just…I can’t believe you c c commanded me to u use moves like that.”  he continued to blush much more and Pele sighed squeezing, “Yeah, sorry not sorry, honestly I wasn’t sure it’s work but, I had to see how strong you were, I had a suspicion that, well, no matter how you were, you weren't too strong right now. I can’t explain it..some deep instinct just tells me not to just watch over you..but that you need it.  And you were refusing to try using ember, I understand you didn’t want to hurt me, but I had to see how powerful you were myself, I was sort of thinking you might take commands.”

Gleam blushed a moment more and started to speak, but all that came out was intelligible yipping and growling.  He blinked a moment in surprise, looking up, blushing, “I I I didn’t mean to do that I I just.” Pele shhed him a moment more, putting her paw over his eyes, “You’re tired Gleam, we’ll talk later, I think you need more rest, go ahead get some sleep, I need to look at your leg more anyway.”  And soon enough the lil kit had fallen asleep in her arms once more.

As she searched for some sort of safe cover and started to duck into the remains of a tree a soft beeping came to her ears, searching for the source it was the badge Gleam had, she took it back, looking at the symbols on it..”how does this thing work..why is it beeping..”  Then she managed to push something, a voice came over it, ““Is this recruit Pele, err trusted member Delphox? Who has picked up?”

She fiddled with the badge more more..just talk?  “This is Pele, can you hear me?” She returned the answer, ranged communication interesting, but who is she talking with right now?  What should she reveal?

“Sorry I should be more official, I just...a Delphox on our team, I thought all of the evolved were gone.  Anyway, Delphox, push the button before you start talking, release once you are done. I only heard part of that.”  She replied to the badge as it asked, “Yes this is Delphox, I ah, just got added to the team.” she considered how much should she say, who all knows Gleam’s truth, for now she’d remain quiet on that while the badge responded, “I see Delphox, this is founder Rockruff, where are you and what is your status of you and whomever added you?”  She considered a bit more, a rockruff, Flint? Gleam said the two of them founded the team. Surely he knew, she had to make sure, “I’m sorry to break tradition but Rockruff, would you be Flint?”

A heavy pause went over the badges for a moment, the rockruff responded, “You know my name, I assume from whoever added you told it to you, but so few know it.”

Pele considered quickly, “It’s a long story rockruff.  I don’t know how much I should say. But right now it’s just me and him.  He’s asleep right now and needs it but, something is wrong with him. He was going to teach me how to go through a dungeon, but something has weakened him.  I fear for his personal safety if we enter a dungeon. But we must apparently pass through the dungeon Dusk Forest to get there.”

Another long pause went over the badges, then the rockruff picked up, “You’re on Snowtop Path?”

She wondered why he was confirming location for a short moment, then went back on what all explorer’s do, perhaps help will be on the way after all.  “Yes that’s correct.”

“I’ll be personally heading an expedition team to come escort the both of you.  Please find a safe spot to wait outside of the entrance to the dungeon. We’ll do what we can to teach you more about dungeons, but I get the feeling you may spend most of your time protecting him?”

That was the confirmation she needed to hear, other experienced pokemon to help keep Gleam safe, “Yes I can confirm that, I don’t wish to see harm come to him, I can hold my own in a fight, but keeping him safe will be my priority.”

“Yes Pele, we all will make it our priority, this will designated an escort quest, once we meet up we’ll add you officially to the escort team and designate him as the guest we are all protecting, and we’ll have you be the main one to watch over him but, one more question before I need to stop communication to begin forming the escort party.  Pele, were you at one time the pokemon of a human trainer? Have you and that trainer come here?”

Huh she gets to be part of the team in the end, with them all protecting Gleam, this feels familiar enough, if Gleam lead all 4 of em it’d be even more familiar, then she perked at the qustion and while amused she was also saddened, she could hear an edge to his voice, he’s pretty sure who he’s talking to, but he desperately needs to know if it’s real, she’s very familiar with that emotion, now how long has he been longing, “Flint, our partner is home, he’s here to stay.”

She could hear the dam break on his side, he sobbed for a good minute, but apparently didn’t know or care he had the ability to talk activated. Her ears fell in sympathy for the pup, yeah she’s pretty sure that pup will do about anything for Gleam, this will be as safe hands as possible, he finally managed to sob through the badge, “Thank you Pele, thank you, we will contact you once we are on your side of Dusk Forest.  Keep him safe for us, for all of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while as I had written a good portion of it from Gleams perspective..and realized that was writing me into a corner. I chose to do it from Pele's. This also gave me the handy ability to give Pele's thoughts and make her seem less like the overly clingy girlfriend she was coming off as. It also allowed me to tease and give hints of a few other things involving her. As always feel free to leave some comments, while I am writing this up for myself, to get it out of my head, I do enjoy listening to others.
> 
> On a sidenote I do need to resist the temptation to make this even more fluffy than it already is, some things probably go too far and make others uncomfortable.
> 
>  
> 
> Finally got the chapter fully edited. For any who saw the chapter before the huge edits, yes I know I abuse the ellipses. I also know parts of the chapter reads pretty different. It’s a good part of my creative writing process, when I go into editing I realize some areas where sense is and isn’t made. Or where info is under or over given, so I fix that up.
> 
> As always for all everyone, feel free to leave comments.


	3. My Partner Has Returned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you read the previous chapter before yesterday, I did an editing/rewrite of the chapter over the week. You may wish to re-read it as I changed some things here and there. And it’s easier to read too.
> 
> It’s time to actually show some of what has been happening with the crew back at the explorer headquarters. A very simple take on the guild, as I’m trying to get to the point of everything, and bogging down on too much info isn’t needed. The town will probably get a more proper writeup once Pele and Gleam enter it for the first time. As well as the guild headquarters.

Well it seemed like the start to a normal day to Flint, at the least.  Wake up, try to ignore the empty feeling of his bed..it was far too big for just one mon his size, but he always hoped his partner would come back one day.  And if so he figured his partner might still need to sleep close to others for comfort. Besides, truthfully, he missed having his partner to sleep next to as well.

He did the usual morning roll call of the guild.  When all of the experienced explorers died, it pretty much fell onto him to become the leader of the guild, if it was going to stay in place at all.  As one of the two Heroes of the Cosmos, and the only one still among the pokemon, all of the other newer and unevolved members of the guild all pretty much look up to him for guidance.

Though, for the time being the guild wasn’t so much exploring as, helping the town recover.  All of the evolved were gone, all of the adults were gone. The land was still recovering, they were trying to do what they could with the farms.  But pretty much all of the supplies for the town came from dungeons, which is where his job came in. He had to assign the best he could to handle dungeons that would give enough food, make sure they didn’t get hurt too badly, and try to watch out for them getting tired and becoming error prone in dungeons.  That on top of the occasional save people trips too. Such as one of the youngers who shouldn’t even be in a dungeon, or another, trying to brave the dungeons for extra food or anything. It didn’t help it was getting close to time for the unstables to shift and a few had already started to do so.

About halfway through his routine he finally caught onto his badge informing him of something.  And decided to see what was going on. He tapped on it a few times to get to the right part of it’s status and….

“Delphox registered as recruit of team TerraFlare, standing: good”

“Delphox membership status upgraded to trusted.”

If the fact he had just heard a Delphox, a fully evolved pokemon, had somehow joined their team wasn’t surprising enough.  The fact the pokemon’s status was upgraded that far really surprised him. While one of the higher up recruits to the team, actually someone with the same status that Delphox had, could have invited her to the team.  They wouldn’t have been able to upgrade her status that fast, and to his knowledge none of the automatic upgrading Gleam had put in place would do it either. He winced at the thought of Gleam, then realized something, what was Delphox the evolution of again? Just a coincidence right.  Still who invited her.

As Flint began going through the audio menus of the badge a memory from a few months ago played through his mind.

* * *

 

“Hey Gleam you said you had most of your memory back now.  What was it like to be human anyway?”

The fennekin went quiet a bit, then smiled, “It, It’s a lot different.  Human’s don’t have powers, or a type, or anything like that. We don’t really fight at all, despite that there are wild pokemon everywhere.”

“If you can’t even fight how do all of you fend away wilds, or even images in mystery dungeons.”

He chuckled a moment, “Remember how you had to teach me about mystery dungeons?  They don’t exist where I come from. As for wilds..well. I really don’t want to get into it too much, but many humans find a way to partner with a pokemon.  A lot of different friendships form that way. Actually come to think of it I was on my journey…”

“I’d be interested in hearing what you said about this journey, but I’m really curious did you have a pokemon there as important to you as I am?  Is our relationship special?”

Gleam frowned, “Our relationship is special, just not the only one.”  Gleam nosed him gently, “A short on the Journey is that we leave home with nothing but one pokemon who we meet at the start of the journey.  I bonded really closely with the pokemon I started with, come to think of it, oddly enough she was a fennekin too. Her name’s ----”

* * *

Flint was a bit shaken from his thoughts as he fully paid attention to his badge , “Delphox, Pele added to team by badge number 0.”  His mouth went dry...that was Gleam’s badge that was **her** name.  He thought it was lost, no-one could find it or contact it after Gleam disappeared.  Did she have possession of it, is that the same mon? only one way he could really find out.  He started trying to contact Gleam’s badge directly.

It beeped for what felt like forever, but finally it toned to indicate someone had pushed to receive.  Someone had Gleam’s badge, would it be too much to hope that Gleam returned with the badge? Time to find out.  “Is this recruit Pele, err trusted member Delphox? Who has picked up?”

He waited, then finally intermittently  “this...pele...hear...e?”

Rockruff sighed, she didn’t know exactly how to use the thing, but she’s willing to talk.  He guessed he better be more official, especially as he does not know where she is or who she is around.  Still he’s also a touch stunned she definitely sounded more evolved than anyone he’s been around in months.

“Sorry I should be more official, I just...a Delphox on our team, I thought all of the evolved were gone.  Anyway, Delphox, push the button before you start talking, release once you are done. I only heard part of that.”  He hoped she was as smart as he’d heard Delphox’s could be, especially with their psychic typing. He at least got a strong smile once the reply came in so clearly.

“Yes this is Delphox, I ah, just got added to the team.”  It was short and concise, but her voice spoke she had more she wanted to say.  He let it pause for awhile, perhaps she was being careful? He’ll need to find out, might as well start with the official bit then, and find out where she is and how she became a member.

“I see Delphox, this is founder Rockruff, where are you and what is the status of you and whomever added you?”  He again awaited some form of a reply, answers were not instant, despite how short her messages tended to be.

“I’m sorry to break tradition but Rockruff, would you be Flint?”  That made him stop right there, even among the evolved very few knew his actual name.  Very few would dare to just call out a name like she just did, though to be fair he called out her name earlier.  Still she knows, very few know that name. Most of them who knew it were in this building right now, part of the core team.  She is definitely trying to make sure of something, she is definitely being deliberately vague and short with her answers. He needs to somehow fish out a longer answer.

“You know my name, I assume from whoever added you told it to you, but so few know it.”  He paused trying to consider what more to say, but her answer came after a short pause instead, “It’s a long story rockruff.  I don’t know how much I should say. But right now it’s just me and him. He’s asleep right now and needs it but, something is wrong with him.  He was going to teach me how to go through a dungeon, but something has weakened him. I fear for his personal safety if we enter a dungeon. But we must apparently pass through the dungeon Dusk Forest to get there.”

That, that was a lot to take in, and it came so shortly.  Was she making sure who she was talking to, did she figure he would be safe enough but that’s a lot.  She even admitted she didn’t know how much to convey over the badge. She referred to him, was that confirming whoever added her told her his name?  Is she hoping he’d infer it’s Gleam? He needs to find out, but he ran the message back through his head. She hasn’t been through a dungeon before, they are on the other side of a dungeon, assuming they are heading back to town.  She personally fears for the safety of whoever added her, saying that person has been weakened. Well if anything it sounds like a new member and whoever she is with could use an escort through the dungeon. Which dungeon did sh--- Dusk Forest, that means she should be on snowtop road near where, all was nearly lost months ago and Gleam **was** lost.  This is too much just to be a coincidence.  But first thing’s first, an escort/rescue mission to find out what is going on.

“You’re on Snowtop Path?”  He had to make sure, the quick answer she gave made him happy, apparently whatever trust issue she had is gone, now she’s just trying to figure out how much she can reveal.  “Yes that’s correct.” So he figured he’d just tell her what is going on, he wondered about her ability to fight but if she was his Partner, he flinched thinking that, in another world he bet most of her attention will be on protecting Gleam, if it is him.  “I’ll be personally heading an expedition team to come escort the both of you. Please find a safe spot to wait outside of the entrance to the dungeon. We’ll do what we can to teach you more about dungeons, but I get the feeling you may spend most of your time protecting him?”

Again a quick answer, “Yes I can confirm that, I don’t wish to see harm come to him, I can hold my own in a fight, but keeping him safe will be my priority.”  

His only thought was that’s goodl, but that will be the priority of the team anyway, the escort will be mostly to keep him, Gleam? Safe.  He should answer, but he had to know, he had to know before he set up this team, “Yes Pele, we all will make it our priority, this will be designated an escort quest, once we meet up we’ll add you officially to the escort team and designate him as the guest we are all protecting, and we’ll have you be the main one to watch over him but, one more question before I need to stop communication to begin forming the escort party.  Pele, were you at one time the pokemon of a human trainer? Have you and that trainer come here?” It was a long shot, a heavy amount of info, if everything hadn’t been lining up as they were he would have never asked about humans and trainers and everything at all, but he had to have it confirmed, he had to.

“Flint, our partner is home, he’s here to stay.”  He couldn’t keep it together anymore, it’s him, he’s back, and apparently he’s here to stay, heavy tears long kept in check starting hitting the floor.  She just right out admitted it for him...their partner, he could tell she still flinched just as he did at the thought of that bond being shared but, she acknowledged it was there. “Thank you Pele, thank you, we will contact you once we are on your side of Dusk Forest.  Keep him safe for us, for all of us.”

This was the Pele his partner personally trained as a human, taught her how to fight other pokemon, helped her evolve, and he saw her as his own partner in his world.  In the short times they talked about him as a human and what he actually did, he knew Pele would be considered an advanced fighter, when they were all here long ago Gleam felt sure she could have taken on several of the evolved just through brute force alone.  She doesn’t need to learn how to fight like gleam did, and she has personally killed multiple pokemon that attacked Gleam. The fact she was worried to go through with him indicated she felt something is severely wrong with Gleam, and her lack of knowledge about dungeons would hinder saving him if he was hurt.  He perked as a final message from her came through the badges. “Will do Founder Rockruff, for his sake please don’t get yourselves hurt, everything that’s happened has left him emotionally fragile, he was pretending fine earlier. But the frustration of his condition once here has made it harder on him. He doesn't want another death for his sake.”

He shuddered at the last bit, had they seen death over there as well.  He was pretending to be ok as a human but, something about being made a fennekin again has left him not well, perhaps it’s the fact he’s needing to get his feet under him again, after being used to being human again, he was rather out of it the first day or so when they first met, but he should answer.  “Acknowledged, I have some ideas for the dungeon, but I’m going to cut off here, I need to prepare our team. We will see you later today.” He shut down the communication for now.

He considered the dungeon ahead, they had their work cut out for them, to add her to the team he would need to go with only 3, so they could form a team of 4 on the other side.  They’d had some experience since last time he was there, but that place was heavy in bugs, grass, and dark types. Mostly fully evolved, and Gleam and he barely made it through even with the help of Gallade and Luxray, though admittedly they were not terribly strong against most of the forest, Gleam had the most luck.

He looked over the roster of who had not been sent out yet, and widdled it down to those who he trusted to pull off the tactics he wanted, lots of items, weaken, run, just rush through and only take down pokemon they can’t get around.  And who had enough stamina to last going through such a dungeon twice. He groaned as he hit upon the only ones who fit all of that, one had useful moves, the other was something of an item maniac. It just felt ironic they would be the best fitting ones.

* * *

 Rockruff looked at the two last members not assigned a job yet, who seemed rather confused, they usually had jobs by now, the ruff sighed a bit then smiled.  “Sorry to have kept you two waiting on your jobs for the day, I have a special one in mind, but couldn’t get it started until everyone else had their jobs assigned.”

Shinx spoke up, “Something special?  What would that be huh? What could be extra special for the both of us?”  he bounced a little bit, holding back some jittery happiness.

Rockruff held back a soft laugh, “Well a situation came up while I was selecting members for jobs.  A new member was added to team TerraFlare, and that member was not added by me or any other member of TerraFlare here.  Quiet Raltz let me finish. I’ve already contacted her, and she’s in the middle of what is a rather important escort mission.  From what I have gathered she knows how to fight, but knows nothing of mystery dungeons, but has an un-evolved that she needs to keep safe.  The un-evolved has been severely weakened and she fears that she may not be able to protect him, and go through her first mystery dungeon.” He quieted and nodded to Raltz, just to let her get it out.

“Another member added, by someone out on the field, you’re hiding something but why?”  She tilted her head softly, “Who added her, and why does she have such an important job of escorting if she’s never been in a mystery dungeon?  Why do you trust her already, if you were able to talk with her I’m sure you could have spoken to her mentor. What is her species, how are you so sure she can----”  

Rockruff sighed, his paw on his face a moment, “Quiet Raltz quiet.  Once we get there I think you’ll understand, I’m being vague because I want as few rumors as possible.  I will be honest I really don’t want to go here, and I picked you two because of useful tactics and moves you two usually use.  We are going to follow in the footsteps of both of your parents, we need to head through Dusk Forest and get onto snowtop road. Once we find her there, we’ll need to return through Dusk Forest again, but we’ll be adding her on as a fellow team member and the one she is taking care of as a guest.  I’d like to do this without needing to camp over there, but we should probably bring camping materials. Shinx I leave you in charge of items, make sure we have enough to eat, otherwise anything to distract, remove, or get rid of all the images. I want through this with as little pain as possible, this is not a training or item gathering mission, it is pure extraction.  Both of you, please get ready and then meet me at Lapras. If you plan to get an extract done, I’d suggest speed”

Shinx and Raltz looked at each other, gulping, they had heard of this place, and how tough it was from Rockruff before but nodded and went off to finish their duties.  Shinx a bit subdued in his hyperness. Raltz left with a ton of questions, some she did not want to have answered.

* * *

The rest of the startup went fine without a hitch, Rockruff sent off the last few stragglers, left a message mentioning he was on an important mission, if he was not back continue as normal.  He grabbed a new badge that he could give to Delphox, then took one last trip down into his old hiding place, the one he shared with Gleam for so long and pulled out a pair of scarves they had bought and worn together, always.  When Gleam disappeared his was left behind, oddly rockruff swore both of them looked bigger, but he paid it no mind and headed for Lapras, meeting with the other two and setting sail. He sighed and tried to settle down, the trip to the island shouldn’t take too long, though Raltz was staring at him, he didn’t want to blow too much but he had to get her to relax and be ready to do this.  This was set to be trying mission. “Go on Raltz get it out.”

She looked at him and grumped, “Dusk Forest, you’re antsy as anything, you rarely go on expeditions anymore at all.  But this one you had to go, and it’s going to be a rough one. Look it’s just us three, what are you keeping secret about this mission.”

Flint sighed a moment, “This should probably explain it then.  The new member, she is a delphox, you already know where she’s coming from.  The other one she’s protecting, the one who sponsored her, is a fennekin. The badge she is currently using, borrowed from her sponsor, who was resting due to whatever has weakened him, is a founders badge.  Is that enough?”

Raltz went quiet, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed her mouth, closing her eyes.  Though she sent telepathically to him, “ _Ok I see your point, try to rest we’ll need everything we got then._ ”

Shinx just looked on in confusion, “A Delphox, a fully evolved pokemon and a fennekin?  Is she bringing along her child?” Rockruff just sighed and laughed, “Get some rest Shinx.”

* * *

 

Shinx whined as they were yet again running down a hallway, half a dozen illusions chasing behind them.  “I hate this dungeon sooo muuchh, how did you get through it before.” Raltz paused to give another heal pulse to make sure her teammates stayed well, then kept going, “They had someone who knew attacks bug and grass types were actually weak to.  And two fully evolved mon of course duh!” Rockruff kept running, “The final stairs are ahead, just keep them back with your wands Shinx we’ll be done with half of this soon enough.” Shinx whined, “Of course we’ve got to go back through this nightmare, not faiirr.”  But through the final steps the 3 went stopping once out the other side, the 3 pausing to look to their wounds. Raltz the healthiest as she was usually in the middle, with rockruff leading the way and shinx behind, both had blown through quite a few wands just to get this far.  And a few petrify orbs had been used up too. Never mind almost all of the oran berries they had brought with them were gone too.

Ralts sighed, “Ok where is our contact at.  I hope we haven't come all this way for nothing.”  Rockruff tugged on his badge, “I told her to find somewhere safe on this side of the dungeon.  Let me see if I can contact her now.” 

As Flint fiddled with his badge to find the right setting, Shinx padded off following his nose, as if smelling something.  His stomach grumbling with a need to eat. He perked as not too far he saw a small campfire, what looked to be a makeshift training course made out of wood, like the ones Gleam would send him through, and apples being roasted over the fire by a Delphox, while she carefully held something in her arms.  

She looked to the shinx as he entered the area, staring at him warily, then seemed to catch his wounds, her face turning much kinder, she spoke softly, “Are you part of the team sent to find us?”  He perked up, oh right the job, he was so distracted by the sight and smells, “Oh hello ma’am yes I’m part of a rescue team. I’m Shinx, we were told to come here to help a new member or something and her kit?”  Her warm smile shifted a moment, part confusion, part amusement, part thought, she beckoned the shinx on over, “Come on I found a few surviving apple trees over here, and I’ve got a bit of food prepared to eat. You look like you could use something, and we can talk about strategy for heading back.”

Shinx happily accepted the offer sitting next to her, then purred as he got a few pets from her free hand, and a roasted apple carefully brought over, “Don’t worry I’ve cooked for non-fire types before, it shouldn’t be too warm..”  

The shinx happily ate the roasted apple, then he perked, “May I see your kit ma’am?”  Delphox looked at the shinx a moment more then nodded, bringing her other arm down a bit, where lie a sleeping fennekin, and the shinx climbed over to look, “Aaww he’s a whelp, and you’re here at the dungeon?  Planning to head through? Yaknow we came here looking for another mother kit pair to help through, maybe you could join us too?” he paused a moment, sniffing the kit, “Huh he smells like Gleam.” The shinx thought and looked up, “Say..is this Gleam’s little brother?  Are you Gleam’s mother?” 

She paused again, taking in what he just said then sighed, “I...no little shinx I.”  She paused thinking, “Gleam had a run in with Celebi...this is Gleam.” Shinx’s ears perked, “She turned him back in a whelp?  Why would a celebi do this to him?” He swished his tail, sniffing at Gleam more, then frowned, “Yeah definitely smells like Gleam, completely.”  he lightly pet his paws over Gleam then looked up, “This only makes it more important we make sure he gets back safely. My dad and Gleam worked together a lot, and Gleam was helping me train for exploring.  And if he’s a whelp it’s dangerous for him to go through a dungeon” he looked back, “Is he training again is that what this course is for?” 

The Delphox nodded softly and looked to the shinx thinking, “Sort of, I was told you would be coming, but Gleam didn’t know, I helped him set this up as a distraction, since we had found food I convinced him to stick around here a bit to ‘train’, anyway you said team, where are the rest hmm?”

The Shinx perked, “Oh yeah right Rockruff was trying to contact someone by badge, and Ralts was settling out our items, give me a moment.”  He started to pad off then looked back with a smile, “It’s nice to meet you Ms. Gleam’s Mom, and good to see an evolved pokemon again.” And with that Shinx padded off to join the others, his tail wagging at the exciting news, Gleam is back, even if he was smaller, Gleam was still back.

“Shinx where have you been.” 

He looked up as Ralts caught him comming back, “Oh sorry Ralts I just smelled something good, so kinna went to see what it was.  Gleam’s mom cooks apples real good, too bad about his runin with celebi but at least he’s ok, though he definitely needs an escort.  Has Rockruff gotten ahold of the other member yet? Gleam’s mom is also expecting someone over to help her too, she even knew we were coming.”  

Ralts started to speak, paused a moment, began again then sighed.  “Gleam’s mom?” The shinx just nodded, Ralts rubbed her head a moment, “Rockruff stop playing with the badge, Shinx managed to find them on his own, come on.”

Rockruff looked up padding over, then tilted his head as Ralts spoke to Shinx, “Can you lead us back to”  She cleared her throat, “Gleam and his mother?” 

Shinx nodded and started to lead the way it was a short trip at least, though Ralts looked to Rockruff and decided to go a bit more mentally, “ _ Rockruff, something here does not sound right.  Shinx is talking about some sort of run-in with celebi that left Gleam needing aid, and his mother?  I thought he was human, and that delphox was a pokemon he partnered with back in the human world. _ ”  

Rockruff sighed but thought back, hoping she was listening, “ _ It’s Shinx, we don’t bring him along for how smart he is, it’s for how trustworthy he is, and the fact his odd tactics actually work.  He probably put 2 and 2 together, didn’t know 3 exists and thinks Pele is his mother. But something about a runin with celebi, leaving him needing aid?  Celebi probably brought him back recently and he’s still recovering from it, if so Delphox was right to not enter the dungeon with him alone, we can talk to her for more information of what went on. _ ”  

Ralts nodded back to him as the three entered the clearing, smelling apples in the air Ralts hmming back to Flint, “ _ You ok by the way, you’re limping a bit.” _

The rock dog sighed but nodded as he looked back to the Ralts, “Just took one hit too many, I hope you brought the camping stuff it might be best if we rested here.  Besides I think we need to find out exactly what is up with Gleam and talk with him.”

Ralts nodded then looked up as well as Rockruff towards the Delphox, currently watching over some apples being cooked, and she held something in the crook of her arm.  She nodded to them softly, then offered them apples as well, she watched the rockruff a moment, sighing at yet another 4 footer limping, then smiles, “Come on over, have a bit to eat..and I’m sure you two wish to see who is with me as well, especially you.”  

She stared at the rockruff a moment, he whined softly from the staredown but, she was right, he really wanted to see Gleam no matter what happened, he started padding over, then she shook her head, “Not now, eat first, both of you look famished.”  

She gave Ralts a stick to hold onto her apple, but she held out an apple on a stick to the rockruff, for him to just eat right off of.  At this point he couldn’t care, he was hungry, but he wanted to see Gleam. He ate that apple in record time and immediately started over again, moving towards her arm, she watched him, then shhed, bringing her arm down, lightly petting him with her free hand, and he finally saw Gleam, and could see what it was, what was wrong.  

He laid near Gleam every night, that smell, the body shape, he was small, his fur hadn’t fully come in, he was just a young whelp, no business in a dungeon, probably could not even properly use moves, but it was Gleam he could tell, even with the young whelp asleep.  In that moment his tears just flowed, and forget decorum and trying to act proper, at this point he just wanted to be with his friend, his partner. He started to climb into that arm, much to Pele’s amusement, but he was careful, he could see that Gleam needed a bit of extra care at the moment.  To his own pleasant surprise he found that arm loosening, Gleam set down into the delphox’s lap, allowing him to curl up around the Fennekin, he gave a few friendly licks, then settled in to sleep, he didn’t care what the others thought at this moment, he had Gleam back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this earlier, but I spent so long on getting the previous chapter, and I’m easily distracted. But hey I got it up before the end of the day, that at least keeps me happy. Anyway bit of a fun writeup, figuring out the chars. The Shinx is interesting, originally I had him going back and forth of ‘his job was to take Pele’ and not understanding his job was to take Pele. Now I made it more obvious, but it’s still a bit of odd that he doesn’t quite catch on the delphox he’s supposed to meet and the one he met arn’t the same people.
> 
> He’s either really dense or a bit of a troll. He is supposed to come across as not too intelligent but he has good insight into unusual thoughts and strategies. He doesn’t know about Gleam = human more because Gleam didn’t want to confuse him, than any worries of how he’s respond to it. But he’s caught onto something about Pele very quickly, that I’m hoping a few of you have already figured out to a degree as well, as I wouldn’t call what he said foreshadowing as much as it’s pasting a big obnoxious sign over stating “Pele is going to be Gleam’s Pokemom”
> 
> Anyway yes all 3 of them know what is wrong with Gleam, and even Gleam has an idea of what that word means. But it’s not one you ever hear in the pokemon games. Whelp, I won’t go into it here because I plan to go into it later with Pele and Gleam anyway. But let’s just say I have my own ideas on how far pokeballs go when it tames a pokemon.
> 
> Finally some words/ideas I used that I have no plan to explain in universe.
> 
> Unstables: The island has a set of dungeon portals, many of them in fact, that change what dungeon they go to. Island wise nobody really knows anything special about them beyond the name of the place. Game wise it’d allow the game to have callbacks to previous dungeons in the series. Rotating at a set pace between certain dungeons. Prob before pre-game it’d be set what they are, and they would change based on story points. But post game it’d be after so many days.
> 
> Dungeon Fatigue: I hinted at this with Flint’s job. Pokemon get tired/stressed/etc going through dungeons, if you keep sending out the same pokemon day by day by day by day, they eventually have fatigue settle in, stats would be lowered, prob susceptable to a status effect, or have something like a dazed effect apply automaticaly on occasion. And in general you need to let them wander around town and cool off. The main character and partner would prob not be succeptable to this..or the main game would automatically give days off, with stuff to do around town. And post game would prob feature stuff to do in town whenever you choose to take a day off.
> 
> And yeah the whole thing with rebuilding the town would technically be part of the Post Game, and would be part of what you’d be doing. As usual feedback is appreciated.


	4. The Source of Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pele and Raltz get a chance to talk while Shinx and Flint rest off their injuries. And Pele begins to question the roots of her own actions.
> 
> A bit of a double meaning title.

Pele shook her head while waiting for the shinx to return with whatever team they brought. He looked so beat up, but was at least up beat, on the other hand he seemed to have had little idea what was going on. Or even that he was going to meet with her, well he apparently knew they were to meet up with someone. Something about him seemed off and she wasn’t quite sure in what way. Still he recognized Gleam pretty quickly, though called him a whelp, she wondered what that was. But he also recognized Gleam should not be dungeoneering, which made her glad. The more who agree he shouldn’t be active in the dungeon, hopefully the less he’ll fuss over being protected and not active. She badly wanted to soothe him, make him feel better over whatever is wrong with him, not just ignore it like they have been. But right now the focus needed to be on getting safe, it just hurts her to know ignoring that for now might cause issues later. Though she hoped not.

She perked and gave a kind smile as the shinx soon returned with a ralts and a rockruff. Well she already knew who the rockruff was at least, the shinx, from what she met of him, reminded her greatly of Snift, and she’ll prob be able to get along with him decently enough, now she wondered about this ralts. She’d comment on the team size but when she set up that training course with Gleam she fished him for dungeon information, and some idea of what was to come, so she knew to be added to this team only 3 would arrive. She picked up the sticks on a couple of cooking apples and offered them towards the entering ones, a soft frown on her face as she noticed Flint limping, then put on a smile again.

“Come on over, have a bit to eat..and I’m sure you two wish to see who is with me as well, especially you.” She then focused her attention on the rockruff. He’s supposed to be Gleam’s partner in this world, as much as that idea hurts, she really wanted rockruff to live up to that as well. For Gleam to have made someone close enough over here to understand him as well. She heard Flint whine for a moment, he was already on his way over, but at this point what she said seemed to have encouraged him to do what he was about to do anyway and he started to move over faster. She wondered if he even realized what he was doing before then. This pleased her a bit, but first things first, make sure everyone is healthy and well fed.

“Not now, eat first, both of you look famished.” She moved one stick to allow the ralts to grab it, then held the other out for Flint to eat from. She noticed the ralts and the shinx look upon this oddly, especially as the rockruff paused, looked to the apple, then her arm in need, and wolfed down the apple, definitely doing it just to satisfy her, that pup really wanted Gleam, and he started to pad towards her other arm again. She shhed to Flint soothingly, bringing down her other arm, running her now free paw along Flint’s back, gently petting him. She watched him study Gleam a bit, then tears fell from his eyes, and he began trying to get beside Gleam with a soft step, upon seeing Gleam the pup seemed to know exactly how fragile he was and was already compensating, she smirked at the idea of holding both of them, but decided better, she brought Gleam down to her lap, Flint’s tail wagging a few times as a reaction and then the pup curled up around her little fennekin, gave him a lick and fell asleep not long after.

She sighed softly, petting over both of them, then looked up to see the reaction of the other two, the ralts looked rather surprised while the shinx about looked like he wanted to join in for the sake of joining in. She shrugged and did her best to put on a warm smile, “Let them stay like that for now. Just them, I was in the rockruff’s position before, and trust me, he needs this.” The shinx seemed satisfied nodding, but he padded over to looked among the two, his voice softening, “Before Gleam left both of them spent time with the whelps, Gleam always had an odd fascination with them, but the two became quite good with them. Not surprising Flint can still be that soft, even if he’s been too busy for the whelps lately.”

Pele perked, hearing whelp again, watching the shinx sit near, while he watched the two sleeping ones, shinx giggles softly, “Oh um, dunno how he’d take it but ah.” The shinx smiled a bit more bashfully, “Gleam makes for a cute whelp at least.” Pele giggling just a touch, she can’t deny she finds Gleam cute, she just doesn't want to mention it. She looks over to the ralts, “I’m surprised you haven't come over yet, at least to say hi.”

The ralts looked back, her arms crossed then sighed, getting up. “Come on this can’t really be Gleam, he was older than this, much older. Most of us figure he was on the verge of evolving, which he was certainly looking excited for. Shinx you can’t tell me you believe it’s really Gleam, just because this delphox told you she was his mother.” The shinx frowned, looking back, “She didn’t tell me I figured it out all on my own, sorta! She was just being nice and offering me food and letting me see the kit. He smells like Gleam, I thought maybe a younger brother, but no she said it was Gleam after a runin with Celebi. I don’t know what he did to make Celebi do this to him, but we know Celebi was the one to take him away back home.”

The Ralts sighed a moment more, walking over, “Besides why would she claim to be Gleam’s mom when…” Ralts sighed and quieted down, he’d never understand it.

Pele sighed, and now she knew part of Ralts’s role in this team, she’s their thinker, probably uses her ability to detect emotions to read what’s going on and bring the other mons down to earth. That’ll actually work to her own advantage in convincing Ralts. On the other hand the talk of her being Gleam’s mother is starting to make her blush. They are partners, and he raised her if anything, even if he’s a fennekin and she’s a delphox now, he still raised and trained her. But she needs to speak up and defuse things a bit, first just to make sure. “Ralts, did none of you ever tell Shinx the truth of where Gleam came from? Seems you know, and rockruff already confirmed he knows with me.”

The ralts looked up, then grumped, “He already told you? Then why this whole thing about being his mom hmm?!”

Shinx tilted his head, “I told you I figured out she was his mom at least, she didn’t need to tell me!” he looked up, “The truth of where Gleam came from? Umm, he came from a rather far away place, had to be brought here by Celebi--”

She listened a moment then interrupted, “She didn’t just bring him here Shinx.” She paused to consider how to explain this, “Gleam is.” She looked down to him, “Was, a rather unusual type of pokemon, one that does not exist here. Instead of introducing this new kind of pokemon Celebi did something like evolving him. But instead of evolving him into his next form, Celebi made him a fennekin. That is at least best I can guess first time he came here. He, didn’t really talk about it too much when he came back for weeks. And he only began to talk with a handpicked team of pokemon he had made over there.”

She closed her eyes, that was just yesterday, “Told us no others of his type existed on the island. I didn’t get told much more because that’s when Celebi offered to bring him back, because she felt he was too unhappy since his old life was very different, he no longer felt like it was part of who he was, and he missed his friends. And all of you missed him and wanted him back. You kinna keeping up with this?”

Shinx tilted his head, “Soo...he’s something like a ditto, able to turn into other pokemon?”

Pele giggled, “No, Celebi is capable of turning him into other pokemon.”

Shinx blinked, “Oh, but that’d make him a, nah he can’t be, you’re his mom. But your saying Celebi had to change him the first time he came here, and made him a fennekin then?”

Pele perked, this shinx knew more than he let on, or perhaps more than he thinks he knows. His reaction wasn’t disbelief, it was Gleam couldn’t be whatever he thought up, he knows of something else. She’ll leave it at that then though, “Yes, apparently to come here he had to become a fennekin, when he left here she turned him back to normal, sort of. He could still use fennekin attacks.” She considered, “But now she brought him back as a favor, part of why I’m along is she said he might need an experienced pokemon with him. I think she mentioned he might be weakened. Perhaps returning his old strength again so soon would be.” She looked at the shinx a moment more, “Perhaps it would be sort of like overdrawing her battery, and shorting her out.”

The shinx perked, “So to return here he changed him again, but for some reason had to make him younger? Into a whelp? Because it might drain him to make Gleam older?”

Pele smiled a bit, “I think you get the idea..this is just my guess of why he’s.” She looked down, young, he’s young. Some part of her instinct knew, it’s why she wanted to protect him. There was nothing wrong with Gleam, he is just too young and needs to be protected is all. But this confused her as well, she had actually made an egg before and was there when it hatched, what hatched wasn’t a whelp, but it’s something to do with age which, despite not knowing the word well sounds right. Well the ralts knows her past is outside this world, though the shinx doesn't. “Why he’s a whelp. Celebi already used up too much energy bringing him here once, changing him, then taking him away, changing him back..and now here again, but he’ll just grow out of it right, so nothing too bad.” The shinx nodded, while the ralts looked at her most curiously, she gave a slight nod of acknowledgement back, then rubbed the shinx.

“Anyway Shinx you look like you could use some rest. While I let Gleam wear himself out on the training course I got started on setting up a small camp, why don’t I set these two in a makeshift bed and you can join them. I guess Ralts was middle and ranged since she looks like she took the least hits.” The shinx nodded, and while she carefully took the kit and pup out of her lap, he followed over to where she had gathered some of her own fur, and nearby softer grasses to make a sleeping area, she meant it for Gleam alone, but with some movement, there was enough room for the 3 to have something soft to rest on, though more a soft mat than a nest now.

She gingerly set down Flint and Gleam, and watched while the shinx settling down near them. He laid close but didn’t curl around like Flint did. Still there was some contact, and he made sure Gleam had the bulk of his warmth. She admitted she had noticed Gleam seemed to get cold easily, she guessed it’s from a weak inner fire, but that also sounded wrong to her, it also felt natural he’d be colder, honestly she wasn’t sure, she smiled watching the shinx get comfortable and pet over him, then perked her ears as she heard something in her head. “ _You know if you just wanted privacy talking you could have just contacted me. Considering your age you’re probably better at this than I am._ ”

Pele looked up in surprise, looking around, talking in her head? She immediately went defensive, is someone setting up to attack them now, pulling out her wand she heard it again. _“Whoa whoa whoa, you are not used to communicating like this? Ok fine you’re from outside of this world as much as Gleam is, I’ll believe that much, happy? Just, just think back to me like you’re trying to talk to me. I can’t believe I’ve found an adult psychic who does not know this trick._ ”

Pele looked towards the ralts, who nodded in acknowledgement, and she sighed, “ _Yeah, this isn’t a trick Gleam taught me. I’ll admit I’ve, never heard of altering an attack to work like this. So you gathered I wanted to talk with you. Anything you wish to ask before hand?_ ”

The ralts rubbed her head,” _How did you know how to explain that to Shinx? He’s so dense I can hardly get anything through his head. But he seemed to accept that Gleam was not always a fennekin, and that Celebi changed him._ ”

Pele smiled, and tried thinking back, “ _Don’t know what all Gleam mentioned to you of the human world, but part of the team was a crabominable. He was similarly dense, but if he knew what to do you could trust him. I picked up from Gleam how to explain things to him, and that went faster once Gleam came back able to understand and speak as a pokemon. Though honestly for all I know Shinx might think that Gleam was a Delphox originally._ ”

Ralts sighed, “ _At this point I don’t know who to trust, or what to trust. But I guess..I want to believe he’s back too, for their sake. I mean, I do miss him, but I didn’t depend on him as much as Flint and Shinx did. Both of them, just being here with, with Gleam, they’ve relaxed so much. He trained Shinx to get into the explorer’s guild, then took him on as a team member when nobody else wanted the dopey guy. And Flint, Flint. Those two stuck together everywhere, but I guess you know that, you seemed to half expect Flint to do what he did. Even I didn’t think he’d right out cuddle up in front of everyone. I guess Gleam’s disappearance really got to him more than he let on. I just joined onto the society at the instance of both mine and Taran’s father, both of them insisted I join the exploration society, and that I join this team. It hasn’t been bad for me and Gleam was always the team leader, but I still don’t get it exactly_.”

Pele nodded, “ _Perhaps they knew something._ ” Pele sighed thinking, “ _They._ ” She thought, “ _They were the ones who followed him up here, it was Gleam, Flint, and those two. I’m guessing they had enough trust to protect them, however they could. Because.._ ” She paused as a tear tried to form in her eye, that’s odd, blinking it away she looked at Ralts, then patted next to her, “ _but, if you don’t mind let’s leave that for now I would, kind of like your help on something. A term here I’ve, never heard before in my life._ ”

Ralts looked up, then started to slowly climb over, she kept her head down and tried to still some soft sniffles. Pele could almost swear she saw some images of a Gallade from Ralts, but they were quickly cut away. She got a soft hug from Pele, just a short gentle one then let go, and she looked up, “ _What, term, exactly?_ ” Pele smiled softly a moment then blushed, “ _Well it’s the word, whelp, I’ve gathered what it means to a degree from context but…_ ” Pele covered what she knew of age, eggs, and what she could gather of the word whelp.

Ralts blinked, a touch stunned, “ _What do you mean by made and hatched an egg? I don’t know everything but I know fennekin are live born, not born from an egg. Trust me on this I know fennekins rather well, especially whelps_ ”

Delphox tilted her head at the odd insistence, but for some reason it made her smile, “ _Look I’ve only ever heard of humans being live births, all pokemon create eggs if we are in the same field group and can have a good bonding moment together in the right setting. As part of the moment the egg just kind of, appears, and we both feel kind of drained. Some of our inner energy used in the making of the egg_ ” Pele shrugged, “ _Chalk it up to one more difference between our worlds, I mean no humans is odd enough to me. Add in the fact apparently pokemon around here have all the towns to just themself. Usually it’s the humans who own the towns, and pokemon are only part of a town if they have a human trainer, friend, or partner. So I’m willing to believe pokemon of this land don’t all create eggs._ ”

The Ralts looked at her oddly, sighed a moment but nodded, “ _I, I suppose that ok I can believe that. So you’ve never seen a whelp before Gleam? Then yeah, whelps are just young, that’s all. Assuming Celebi didn’t do anything else to him, he’ll get stronger, and his proper coloration, as he gets older. It’ll be a bit odd that he can’t join on expeditions at first but he needs proper rest and nutrition. Once the unstables become gummi’s we should probably rush for them._ ”

Pele perked, _“Unstables? Gummi’s? There is so much to learn, and as much as I’d like him to, I don’t think Gleam is going to be in the position to teach me that he hoped for. I’ll prob wind up taking care of him more than anything._ ” She tried to hide her confusion for the moment, as the mention of gummi’s made her crave a flavor she can’t remember.

Ralts tilted her head, “ _Unstables are a type of dungeon. They change into other dungeons every so often. Every so often they become a dungeon with a lot of food called gummi’s on the ground. We only eat them if all other food is gone, because they are a strangely nutritious type of food, and we save them for whelps. To the point most around here now think of them as whelp food and only that. They each have a single type, and eating matching types gives some of the better nutrition and flavor. I was just thinking when they come around we need to gather a lot of gummi’s, especially fire ones._ ”

Pele couldn’t help but notice that the Raltz was putting emphasis on gathering the type of gummi fit Gleam. Did he win that many hearts over? Maybe just this core team? Or perhaps everyone here saw him as part of their team. Even with the amnesia he had, he apparently did train others. Then again she does feel like she’s part of something now too, and knows these 3 are all part of it, similar to the old pokemon team Gleam had but, still different. But already she can’t help but think of them differently, though she does note she feels protective of them, is that to do with being evolved over unevolved?

Ralts considered a moment longer, “ _Odd you have frustration on your mind when you talk about taking care of him but, also enjoyment, pleasure, love. Strange set of emotions there._ ”

Pele nods softly, “ _I care for him, greatly, in truth I have no issue taking care of him. And if I need to I’ll gladly do what it takes to raise him, I’ve already fed him a few times out of my paws, that was actually enjoyable but._ ”

Pele closes her eyes, ears flattening lightly. “ _He’s frustrated, and I understand why. He had abilities, moves, he was hoping to go on expeditions again, and help pokemon. You said he seemed on the verge of evolving, now he’s a whelp, his inner fire is too weak for him to use any fire moves. I let him scratch me and I honestly didn’t feel a thing. Only his tail whip is adorably effective, and I know he doesn't care for that. And I just feel frustrated for him because of that, I’m just going to need to find a way to make him happy as he is but, I’m not sure I’m the right mon. I was raised for battle, and raised to be his instrument to use in combat, we developed a close partnership and I love him yes, but he still raised me to be a fighter not, not a caretaker._ ”

Ralts listened, then sighed, “ _You love him a lot._ ” The Ralts sighed, “ _I want to trust you so badly. Not just believe it’s Gleam, I want to trust you. I don’t..._ ” Her eyes began to water, and Pele perked up her ears. This is something else, why is this ralts so sad over her, and wanting to trust her so badly. There is more to this than just not believing it’s Gleam, it’s something about herself. She shook her head, all of those here are so young, and from how others have talked, she’s the first evolved around in awhile. Then she realized, not just evolved, adult. These are like human children, the one’s she’d seen in those early learning schools. Tears threatened her eyes as she let it sink in, Ralts lost her father. The Gallade was lost somewhere up the trail they just came down.

Pele looked down softly to the Ralts, the realizing of just what Ralts had lost hurt her too, like she had lost her own family suddenly. And now knowing that Gleam isn’t in a dangerous condition, a good part of her wanted this ralts to like her, and she realized she didn’t even know why, but this ralts’s trust seemed important to her, she opened her arms softly, “ _Can you come here?"_

The ralts blushed a moment, but nodded, and she moved over, to later find herself wrapped up in Pele’s long fur, lifted up, held against the Delphox’s chest, she shuddered in surprise as Pele warmed her paw and began to rub over her horn. She tried to hold back tears but couldn’t help it anymore, they started to flow softly, “ _Why did you hafta be a lady delphox of all things?_ ”

Pele perked up her ears, this was different. Even mentally she felt pained to say delphox, and there is something more she can feel, or she knows. Maybe she’s picking up something from trying to talk like this, or Ralts is letting a lot seep through. But she understood something, before Gleam, this ralts knew a delphox and fennekin. She perked as she tried to listen to Ralt’s inner voice better, straining a bit, but she started to pick it up.

“ _I miss my dad but, I miss my ‘mom’ I miss my ‘sister’ the most. I miss my family before any of this happened. But seeing Pele, seeing her with Gleam like that, is that just natural to all Delphox’s, to act like that as a mother? It isn’t fair to her, that she reminds me of my old family._ ” Pele perked her ears, realizing the ralts had stopped sending, she apparently picked up how to listen to those surface thoughts, but she realized she’s reading deeper, she even picked up the ralts’s name, a rather nice one.

Pele sighed, realizing she might have broken a chance at trust, the ralts looked up, and Pele attempted to send, “ _Sorry when you went quiet I thought I wasn’t listening well enough so I tried harder. Apparently I was able to copy what you were doing and well.._ ” She squeezed the ralts, “ _I didn’t realize that I was listening in on your thoughts, I’m sorry. You used to have a family with a delphox and a fennekin?_ ”

The ralts sniffed closing her eyes, “ _I figured you would be better at it than me, what a way to make a breakthrough, hearing my self pity. Yes it’s a long story. And we should probably focus on other things. But when I was a whelp we had them on the island. Myself and dad, and ‘mom’ pregnant all of us wound up here through different accidents due to the properties of the changing dungeons. I’ve no idea where we came from before, but the dungeons brought us here. I was there to see her born, about a year apart, the little fennekin and I. We were like sisters, while Gallade and Delphox, they were pretty much mother and father to both of us."_

Ralts went quiet a moment, Pele wasn’t quite sure what to do, she badly wanted to know more for some reason, but this was yet another distraction from the upcoming dungeon. She considered, looking over to Gleam, how did he always handle things. Health of the team, once the team is healthy, then you can fight. But any part unhealthy, even if just distracted could wreck a fight.

Pele looked to the Ralts, right now she needed to be healthy, she’s been hurting for awhile, and seeing Gleam being carried along is only going to make it worse. So she’s going to need to at least be able to handle seeing a delphox carrying a fennekin for the dungeon. She tried to consider what she knew of ralts’s. The horn senses emotion, could she feed it soothing emotion? Only one way to try, “ _Do you mind if I use your name?_ ”

The ralts shook her head, “ _I don’t mind_ ”

Pele smiled warmly a moment, and began to hum a soft melody, a tune she’d sometimes sing to herself in all of her forms, hoping it’ll be as soothing to the ralts, then she went over her words in her head and finally spoke softly, “ _Though you have lost much, all that is gone I cannot replace, I cannot bring back. Nor will I try to. You’ve had a special bond it would be wrong for me to replace._ ”

She looked down to the ralts who had started to look up, “ _But let me say this, my dear little Kencil, I will do what I can to help you forge another bond just as strong._ ” And she gave the ralts a gentle kiss on the horn, trying to think kind thoughts, and focused some of her Telepathic reserves, allowing her inner fire to warm as well. She noticed Kencil had a quite startled look on her face, before Pele’s attempts apparently worked, and the 3’rd of the crew to come save her and Gleam fell asleep in her grasp.

What surprised Pele though was the last of the mental information she got from Kencil. Apparently she had replicated just what her delphox mother used to do. Were all delphox’s really so alike, because she didn’t even need to think hard, she just somehow knew about the technique, figuring out how to do it was the trick? But she smiled lightly at the last thought Kencil had on her mind before she drifted off, “ _Thanks big sis._ ”

Pele decided to hold onto Kencil a bit longer, something about holding onto the ralts felt special, and she wanted to let this moment last. But she also worried, how badly was the rest of the town fairing. They all had missing parents apparently, she was going to walk in there as the only adult figure they’d have seen for awhile. Yet another thing to check up on when everyone awakens.

More worrying to her though at the moment, how did she so easily use those abilities. She didn’t alter a move, she didn’t change a move, she did something completely different. And her mind seemed primed to do it. Like she just had to know the ability was there, she’d been doing that all day today. She’d been altering her movements and her behaviors to give Gleam what he needed. She flat out knew how weak he was, and that he was fragile but yet she had never heard of a whelp before, or she thinks. Now she’s even doubting that, the idea sounds familiar, even the word. Did Celebi do something to her as well? Gleam was changed heavily, and apparently even some mental changes that caused amnesia the first time. Could something more subtle have been done to her?

She needed something to distract herself while the 4 young ones slept. If she kept down this line she might work herself up into a panic. No time for that right now, what else to do. They are going to need to spend the night here she thinks. And with Gleam’s reaction to the destroyed buildings she doesn’t want to take them up there. Even if there is no danger, it might cause him to panic again. She looked at the supplies her new guild mates brought with them, well might as well see if there is anything there to add to the camp,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sad part is I originally planned for this chapter to cover up to entering the dungeon, then give the dungeon it’s own chapter. That obviously did not go as planned. The time with Ralts took up a bit more space than I ment, and giving Kencil and Pele a bit of a relationship just felt right. And trying to plant some seeds for a few other things too.
> 
> Anyway: The whole egg thing, and fennekin being live birth. I’ll reiterate from my previous chapter notes. My headcanon, pokeballs do some interesting things to make captured pokemon suitable for fighting.
> 
> On Celebi and gender: I just want to get this out there right now. If I was writing in a different language (say japanese) there would actually be an appropriate and kind sounding non-gendered pronoun I could use. And I would use it when anyone refered to Celebi. As it stands I instead choose he/she on the following factors.
> 
> Does the legendary in question have a preference for how they are seen? If yes then anyone not being a pain in the butt refers to them that way.
> 
> Do they not have a preference? Then every single mon decides on their own and how they see the mon what gender they refer to them as (and yeah see the use of they/them/it, it just sounds so..unpersoning). This is why Shinx refers to Celebi as he, and Pele refers to Celebi as she. Celebi honestly doesn’t care, and as long as they aren’t being insulting, Celebi doesn’t care what pronouns are used.
> 
> This is a pretty long way to say, if you see a character who is from a species with no genders (most legendaries, ditto). For a good amount of the time, pronoun mistakes will be based on the character talking, not the one being spoken about, so keep that in mind if trying to point that out for me. Is the same character using different pronouns for a non-gendered character, or is it different mons.
> 
> And finally I just want to say this, having species name also be the proper name used from time to time is a trip when I’m trying to keep track of proper capitalization. Because I need to constantly make sure that if I use lower case, they are using the word as a species name...not as a way to reference someone. The very moment they use it as a way to talk about a mon (“that shinx over there”, compared to “Shinx over there”) I then need to capitalize it. If you catch that kind of mistake feel free to let me know, I try to re-read and edit several times but as more pokemon enter the scene, this mistake will be more common. And I will have an entire town to deal with…..
> 
> What have I gotten myself into?


	5. The Truth for Gleam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group talks a little bit about what happened the last time Gleam and Flint came to this area, giving some idea of events. And Gleam finally wakes up with the group around and is forced to face the fact he is not exactly in any condition to actually be of active help in a dungeon.
> 
> Warning: Shinx is a bit mean to Gleam, with a fair reason.

Warmth.  Comfortable I don’t want to wake up warmth, that’s the first thing Gleam felt as he started to drift into consciousness.  The next was something warm and damp running over and along his muzzle and head. That’s what caused him to wake up, he thinks.  It felt nice though, but it still made him wake up. The next thing his groggy mind noticed was the smell of food, a bit of cooked apple near his muzzle, his stomach grumbling lightly, he opened his muzzle to reach for it, and found hiw maw filled, he ate it, his eyes trying to flutter for a moment, trying to focus, something large and brown in front of him.  But his stomach was satisfied. The brown thing came closer, his sleep addled mind trying to remember what it was, it felt happy, something started to click in place. 

Then something red came from the brown thing and it started to run over his muzzle.  He needed to close his eyes unless it ran over them as well. And that sensation of something warm and damp running over his muzzle, his head, his upper back started again.  This was kinna nice feeling, but he realized it was making him drowsy. No matter how nice it was, he didn’t want to sleep, he needed to wake up for something, wanted what he saw.  He’d protest but opening his muzzle would make whatever was rubbing him go inside of it. He did the only thing he could do in this situation, and gave off a soft whiney whimper, starting to squirm his legs and body.  But he felt something rest on his body, giving it a soft rub, a soft shhhing sound got him to quiet down his fussing, and in moments all the soft sensations sent him back to sleep.

* * *

 

Rockruff smiled, looking up to the others, giving the lil fennekin a few more gentle licks for good measure, and removed his paw from his back.  “And that is how you can keep a lot of whelps asleep while giving them their meal. Though he was starting to get a bit feisty there, I wouldn’t be surprised if he woke up on his own soon enough.”

Ralts held her head in her hand in amusement, shaking it slowly as she softly giggled, “Ok fine you won that bet.  I don’t think all of us can do that though, I know my tongue isn’t good enough for licking. I just figured he’d wake right up though.  Especially when you gave him the food.”

Rockruff nodded then grinned, “It’s a fine line you tread when doing that.  Part of it is you keep them all good and warm as well, in comfortable sleeping conditions.  That wakeup just barely agitates them awake, and most will open their maw for food. So you just need to continue the comfort after they eat.  He started to open his eyes, and I think he started to recognize me. But all whelps I’ve seen don’t want their eyes licked, so that helped keep them closed.  He did whine a bit, but again it was instead of trying to actually talk, as he was keeping his maw shut to stop me from going inside.”

Pele smiled, watching them show off.  Everyone woke up one by one, and to ease things in, once everyone ate, she asked what they did around town.  She was trying to do her best to do Gleam proud, to keep this together while he really was in no condition to do so.  This seemed like a good way to get friendly banter going at least. She now had it confirmed, Flint and Kencil were among the oldest in the group.  And Kencil would probably evolve to her second form soon. 

Apparently there is a group house where all the whelps are now kept, since all of their parents are gone, and Flint manages who is in there day to day.  There are also a few sibling groups, and those are kept together, though it is common for the whelp to be brought to the group house when the older sibling has a job to do.

Otherwise the scene before her was rather cute, Flint had brought along a pair of scarves that apparently the two always wore together.  The problem is that it was way too big for Gleam, and even Flint's seemed bigger to him. She helped some though, doubling the scarf as she tied it around Flint’s neck, he now has a decent sized pocket with his scarf.  As for Gleam, e was all wrapped up in the brownish green, with a flare of red in the middle cloth, made for a good blanket for him. The two four leggers were snuggled next to Gleam in her lap, while her ‘little sister’ was beside her, leaning on her.

Taran, as he gave his name, perked up a bit, “So which of the evolved taught you that?  I’ve never really seen that technique and none of them ever taught me that trick.” The shinx tailswished,”It woulda been handy, especially with Shii, she is upset over her mom and dad, and Gleam too.”

Flint nodded a bit, “Given what I just did, ironically it was Gleam himself.  He actually was like, an expert when it came to that kind of stuff. I mean he had the wrong idea about whelps at first.  Because he’d never seen one before, like Pele. He honestly thought they would always be weak, even when evolved. Which is why I think he stuck around them so much at first, feeling sorry for em, well that and Shii and her mother.  But he was very curious and wanted to learn more once I told him the truth. 

Pele decided to add in a bit herself, “That’s because he took training seriously.  He studied types, he studied pokemon, how we generate our moves, where the energy comes from.  Our reservoirs for the various move types. He even studied each and every move that was found to be teachable, so he could teach his team without the need for machines or others to teach for him, I learned three of my four moves from him.  He even knew some basic healthcare, several of us having been taken care of by him when we got sick, or handling some of the nastier wounds we’d take in battle.

Ralts sighed, “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.  I know you’re ok with it but, yeah, you just described a lot of what he did here as well.  So all of that he learned for his journey thing.” She looked up as she leaned on Pele, letting the boys spend time with Gleam, she had her own plans to spend time with him later, and she’s happy just having a big sister for now.  After the dungeon and they get home she'd have her time with both of them.

Pele nodded, “I hate to get into this but I think this is something I need to know.  When he came back he was changed, a lot. I know in part it’s just, getting to know other pokemon directly as he did here.  But there’s more, he’d toss and turn at night. He actually does here too unless---”

Flint cut in, “He has someone to sleep next to.” he looked up, “Or probably holding him as well huh?”

Pele nodded, “Just up the road along the path are the ruins of a few houses.  Huge holes in them, large holes in the ground. When we first came here I took Gleam there until he woke up. It was safe enough but when he woke up and got a look around.  He panicked, hurt himself running, and curled up under a rock, and the look on his face.” She shivered a moment. “I need to know…” She paused looked down at Flint who had went pale, his ears fallen, and had begun to whine softly.  She gently pet over Flint and sighed. The other two looked over at Flint in worry, especially as his eyes began to tear up.

Flint shook his head quickly, trying to clear away the tears, then gave out a shakey whiney sigh, “Th..th..that’s wh where m m most o o of the e evolved we..we..were l l l lost.”  He hiccuped a moment, then was picked up by Pele, held against her, “He, he he didn’t w w want to f fight them. B b but they w were under, under, under control by, by, by that thing.”  Pele frowned, squeezing gently holding, “G g gallade f f finally b b began using h his evolved s status to o oorder attacks f f from both of us. B b before making us b both run wh wh while h he k k kept them b busy I..I”  

Pele finally had heard enough of seeing the lil ruff suffer from remembering this, and he hadn’t even finished, whatever was controlling the evolved did something more, she softly shhhed him, petting over and along his muzzle, encouraging him to keep it closed.  The pup buried his head into her first and just sobbed. She looked to Kencil and Taran, both looking a bit saddened and shocked. With Kencil first to speak up.

“He” She looked at the sobbing rockruff a moment, “He’s never mentioned what happened up here before. I I can kind of see why.  We knew most of the evolved died up here, but to be forced to attack them by dad taking evolved control…” She looked down a moment.

Pele cut in for a moment, “Evolved control?  This is something I haven’t been told about much.  What is that?”

Shinx decided to put in his two cents, speaking rather somberly, “Pa always said it was something to do with our island.  We are real close to, something. Pa called us a guardian town. But being so close affects us. When you join the explorers the badge bonds us.”  He swished his tail, “It makes it so evolved and adults can command unevolved what to do. Pa said it’s for use when training us youngsters, if we freeze in a dungeon or can’t decide what to do.  It enables them to command us so we can stay out of trouble.”

Ralts nodded adding in, “It also takes certain mannerisms.  A decent rank in the guild, and knowing how to correctly evoke it.  So thankfully only a certain few can ever force it. And right now none of us know how to do it.  We arn’t old enough, and nobody knows the exact way to act. I’ll probably be the first one among our group who is able to do it again but, yeah I’ve no idea.  Honestly I’d teach you” Ralts paused, “Pele, if I knew how.” Of course the delphox also got the mental send “ _ Big Sis” _ Which just made her smile a moment but then she sighed.  She looked at shinx, who had an odd look of keeping a secret.  She bet she knew it already.

“Shinx, I heard Gleam helped train you to be part of a team right?”  The cub nodded a bit, “He knew the trick too didn’t he? He was able to command you, and that’s how he helped train you for battle isn’t it?”  

The cub looked but nodded, his ears folding, “I promised I’d never tell but, how did you know?”

Pele sighed, considering for a moment, “Simple.”  She looked to Shinx, clearing her voice a moment, then took up a more official tone.  “Taran, use baby-doll eyes.”

The shinx paused a moment, then gave the biggest, cutest, most adorable look she’d ever seen from him.  Huge glistening eyes, that just screamed don’t hurt me. Kencil looked up stunned, even Flint paused a moment from his sniffles, to take in the sight.  But looked less surprised.

Shinx blushed a bit, “Why that mooove!”  She smirked, “Lower defense for the quick defeat, lower attack to survive the next hit.  I figured he would have encouraged you to have that instead of leer, his tactics prefer weaking the enemies attack over their defense.”

“As for the unasked question.  I learned it from being around Gleam. His entire job back home was to command his team in that way.  He was to be the tactician, to come up with the strategies, and let us know how to enact them. It allowed us to ignore the greater battles and focus all of our resources on our task at hand.  Gleam meanwhile paid attention to the flow of battle and used us to fight instead of using attacks himself.  We had all put our trust in him to keep hits wits about him no matter what the situation.”

Pele ear folded, “I bet that only made it worse.”  Ralts looked up, “what?” Pele sighed and explained exactly what she did to get Gleam to show her the power of his attacks.  “I didn’t know about this, well, trainers command was a thing here. But some part of me thought he might do it if I copied how he did it before.  And it worked.”

Flint frowned, “H H He’ll prob b be ok.” the ruff shook his head, trying to calm down, ”And, and you had to know and show he couldn’t do it.”

* * *

 

Gleam started to find his sleep coming to an end again.  His stomach was decently full still, he felt quite comfortable, and he had enough sleep he thinks.  At least he’s not waking up groggy but he could hear voices talking around him. He was apparently trapped in something warm, prob the source of comfort, it smelled familiar too.  The voices heard were familiar. There’s Pele, who has been acting quite strange lately, then he heard another voice, he did his best to suppress his surprise, he wanted to find out what was going on.

Ralts “Yeah, it let you know you had to stall.  And trust me we are all thankful for that, I’d hate to see him get hurt in there.”

Kencil is here? What is she doing here, sounds like a decent conversion, of something then he heard Taran chime in, what are those two doing here?

“I hate to ask but you mentioned Gallade what, what about my dad too?  I’ve been wanting to know but afraid to ask.” He heard the shinx chime in.

Who all is here, he had to know.  He slowly opened his eyes, he was laying in Pele’s lap, why was he always in her arms or lap lately.  Taran was beside him in the lap, Kencil on the other side of Shinx and leaning against Pele. And above him was Flint being held by Pele, the pup looked like he had been crying.  Apparently they were all hyper vigilant, his slight movement to look up made the shinx turn towards him. He closed his eyes, still wanting to know just what was going on, also for some reason he felt more than a bit shy of having attention on him.  Soon he heard Flint start to speak, and his heart dropped, Flint sounded rather sad at the moment. He chanced slowly opening his eyes, hoping Taran wasn’t staring, and luckily enough he wasn’t, looking at the pup, his ears would have fallen if they weren't already down from sleeping, Flint had definitely been crying.

“I I can’t tell you everything but.”  Flint took a breath then sighed, speaking shakily, “W we were running usual tactics, Diamond formation for ease of ranged attacks.  When something webbed Gleam and pulled him to the side and over a teleport trap along the way, I I was scared he was gone. Luxray went looking for him, f from there a a all I know is---”   


Gleam couldn’t take it anymore, he didn’t want to call attention to himself at this moment, but Flint didn’t know what happened, and he’s already upset.  Gleam winced as all eyes turned to him the moment he spoke, especially as he was speaking quietly, making his voice sound terribly small to him. “I wound up on the other side of the Monster House we mapped out.  Thankfully it was a shallow tunnel so I wasn’t in immediate danger, but the only way back was through the monster house. I was debating what to do when Luxray spotted me from another end. He purposefully activated the monster house and drew them to one side.  I started to come in, to try and burn them down. But.” he shook his head, trying to drive away a few tears, he would not cry, not in front of all of them.

“There were overwhelming numbers, they surrounded him and were starting to surround me.” he hiccuped a moment, and tried to take a second to calm down.  Shinx put a paw on him, then leaned down, giving him a lick, making him blush and whine a touch, “he he said a a few o other things b b but commanded m me to run.”  he tried to keep it short, but a moment later he found the shinx not just against him, but hugging his paws around his body, and more licks, meant to soothe he knew it, but when he was already barely holding off the tears, “I I I’m sorry if if if I wasn--”  He hiccuped and squeaked as Taran shushed him and gave him a squeeze, “no really if if I was s stronger I I.” he hiccuped again then squeaked as he was squeezed and got a light nip of admonishment from the shinx, a very light one but it still startled and surprised him, making him unable to hold back the tears.

“My dad did what he could to save you.  Exploring is a risk we all take to help others, and he saw you as his duty.  He went down with a fight, and you will not besmirch his actions by apologizing for it.  Now be a good whelp, and let the only noise coming from you be crying.”   


Gleam’s ears fell more, he was being admonished by the dopey shinx.  Felt bad enough he was already crying some as it was. Now he’s being talked to like that then he realized that last bit the shinx said, “a a wh whelp no I I’m.” At that point he couldn’t even talk straight, but he got another nip for his attempts the shinx looking at him somewhat seriously, “be a good whelp for your mama.” The shinx then proceeded to scruff him, much to his surprise, pulling him out of the warmth he was in, and instead nudging him closer to Pele.  The sudden shock of all the movements, the whelp talk, something about a mother, being reminded of what happened those weeks ago, the sudden chill, and being lifted up by something that should have been about the same size as him just made him finally break down, he began sobbing and crying out like never before.

In mere moments the rest of the group went from startled about the shinx’s actions to all of them feeling sorry for the little fennekin, as well as being impressed by exactly how healthy his lungs were.  Shinx grabbing the scarf back, draping it over him so he won’t get too cold. The small fox soon found a rockruff jumping down beside him, before he got lifted up slightly by Pele, held close and gently rubbed, the ralts moving near him, the rockruff giving him a few licks.  The shinx meanwhile had left the lap of Pele, only to return with a bowl of water, setting it down, as well as a few leaves soaking inside of it.

For the fennekin none of this was really noticed, he was too busy crying himself hoarse.  His mind running through the loss of Luxray he just now talked about. Realizing how weak he’s been while here, everybody now seeing him cry shamefully like this, how much they would deride him now.  How he’d missed everybody and this is how they see him. And just in general some of the feelings he’s held back, as well as a base instinct to just let everyone know how upset he was. Eventually he felt his throat burn a bit, quieting down to soft whimpers, while Taran looked up to Pele, nudging the bowel closer.  The fox feeling a familiar to him buzzing sensation in the air. Pele picking up a few leaves and placing them into Gleam’s muzzle, allowing him to draw the moisture out of them, then softly repeating this gesture a few times, replacing the leaves so more could soak up the moisture. Gleam found the burning sensation nicely leaving his throat, though he started to feel too drained to carry on as he was just a bit ago.  Feeling somewhat glad he was starting to get control of himself.

Taran slowly nudged up to gleam and spoke softly, “Do you want the bowl to drink from?”  Gleam looked at the shinx with stunned worry, finally nodding his head. Pele went to reach for the bowl, shinx looked up to her, then shook his head, looking to the fennekin.  Gleam felt more of that familiar buzzing from an organ not fully developed in his body yet, lowering his ears a little bit, looking to the Shinx. He was wondering what in blazes Kencil was communicating around so much, and why Taran was getting this much free reign.

Taran shhed softly, nosing him gently, “Be a good whelp, look up to your mama and ask her for the bowl, like a good whelp ok?”  Gleam lowered his ears while the other two unevolved side eyed Taran, Pele kept going between looking extremely confused and like she was about ready to go after the shinx.  Yes, definitely Taran being Taran, but why, he usually has a reason for his odd stunts, but this is going so far. Still he felt vulnerable for the time, and now he was being asked to do what?  Act like a whelp. Ask his mama? How did they explain things to this shinx. He lowered his ears more as Taran got more insistant, right up at face, he couldn’t help but give a low worried whine, looking up at the shinx as Taran spoke again. “Come on Gleam, you know how a good whelp should act, and you’ve still got your mama go on.”

Gleam lowered his ears more, he didn’t mind the idea of asking for a bowl.  But his mama? Taran definitely means Pele. Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of calling her that.  But if he didn’t how much further would Taran go, already made him break down crying, how much worse would it get.   Gleam coughed a little bit, he was thirsty and couldn’t hold that need back much longer, he needed something to drink.  He looked up to Pele with a whine, then blinked as he felt that buzzing again and she talked into his head, “ _ Go on Gleam, I don’t think he’s going to stop.  He decided on his own I’m your mother and won’t let the idea down.”   _ He could feel the unsureness in her voice.  With Gleam wondering when did she learn this trick?  “ _ We can talk about all of this later.  I do think our relationship has changed though partner.  But to what, that’s what we need to talk on. But for right now let’s get this over with ok?  I won’t take it as anything more than you pleasing him for now.” _

Gleam gulped a moment, ears folding, and just this once to make Taran quiet, he pushed down his pride for the time being, “Mama c can I d drink from the bowl?”  That felt more than a little embarrassing to say, especially like that, He felt eyes burn lightly for want of tears, why is Taran insisting on bringing him this far down.  But Taran, sighed, “A little too well spoken for a whelp but it’ll do for a first try.” and moved out of the way, while Pele did her best to look neutral over what Gleam just said, but he caught something welling up over her, he definitely evoked some kind of emotional response from her, he wondered what while she brought up the bowl, helping him drink from it, the water soothing his throat nicely, and a few more tears beading up after some seconds thanks to the new introduction of water.  He sighed in contentment after a bit, his throat feeling better, he noticed the shinx whispering to Flint, and the pup came over. More buzzing in the air, though with both Raltz and Pele here capable of it, he wasn’t sure what the source was. 

Then he found the rockruff cleaning up his tears, Flint seeming huge to him, he naturally tried to squirm out of the way, but between Pele and Flint he couldn’t do more than make it inconvenient for Flint to clean him, then a few things started to click in his head.  Why does everyone seem so big now, they were all close to the same size? No-one had evolved yet, then realization struck. Shinx’s insistence on calling him a whelp. Pele telling him he didn’t seem right for a fennekin. A hazy memory of waking up and being fed, then sent back to sleep.  He whined a moment more, whimpering softly, realizing he’s just acting like one of those whiney whelps whenever he was asked to help get them clean. He started going still letting Flint finish, even moving a little bit to make it easier on the pup, then nestled back against Pele, as he finally realized just how small he was, and how cold the world felt.  And looked over what he could see of his fur, his ears falling more, looking up at Flint, he hiccuped, whining a moment, Flint shhhed, moving in close. He moved to Flint’s ears, just wanting to whisper.

“I I I’m a whelp a arn’t I?”  he said in a rather defeated voice.  Flint turned to him, he could see the apologetic look to his muzzle, those ears falling in worry.  Flint sighed and nodded, “Yes Gleam, don’t worry I’ll still be with you partner.” Gleam couldn’t help it the tears renewed as that fact sank in, Flint frowned but waited to finish so he could make sure Gleam was good and clean.  Leaving the fennekin blushing slightly at how he was being treated. But part of it started to make sense, especially with how small his body was now.

Shinx finally came back over, his tail swishing.  Looking a bit proud of himself, though Gleam was trying to figure out why.  But perked, as the cat spoke, “So, I know we plan to get some sleep first but, we need to worry about marching order and jobs in the dungeon.  Before you get too sleepy Gleam you usually decided the teams anyway. We got 5 here, so one of us will need to be the guest. Any thoughts on how we should handle this?  You know all of our abilities best, though we are down to only a few blowback wands, about 3 oran berries, and the apples found on this side.”

Gleam couldn’t help it, he twitched a moment, then laughed at the absurdity of it, winding up crying at the end through choked laughter at the realization of the end goal of Taran’s stunt.  He noticed the rest looking at him with worry once he got control of himself, he went to clear his eyes, but Flint got at it first, licking his fur clean and grooming it out. He just sighed and stared the shinx as well as he could, “Taran you..you..you, all of that just to make a point?  Really?” The shinx shrugged, wagging his tail. And Gleam sighed and grinned at the cat’s absurdity. “Ok Taran fine your point is made. Ya’know you coulda seen if I’d listen to sense first before going this far? At least then it might have been less humiliating.”

Flint spoke up, looking a bit stunned, especially at how well Gleam was taking this at the moment, but realized what was being talked about, “Would that be before or after we found out you initially wanted no help, and only the meagre stocks of items you and Pele came here with?  And you planned to lead the way?” Gleam lowered his ears looking down a moment.

Kencil speaking up next, “I, that’s what all of this was about?”  She sighed, “I guess if it got the point to you, ok but.” She blushed, “It hurt seeing and feeling you like that but, I guess if it worked.” She reached over and patted him, “But yeah, definitely you were about to take on more than you could handle.”

Pele sighed, “So that’s why he just kept telling me to trust him, and to not interfere.  Yeah I was about half ready take my paw to a bratty lil shinx watching that but.” She rubbed Gleam's back softly, “How about we just don’t speak of that again for now?”

As much as Gleam wanted to agree with Pele to just never speak of this again he sighed and shook his head.  “We’ll.” He tried to consider what to say, but no way to say this without humiliating himself anyway, “No we just shelve it for now.  Maybe on the way home after the dungeon. Taran made his point very clear. And trust me Taran I’ll find some way to get back at you for it, but the point is still made.”  

Flint chuckled guardedly looking to the kit, “I’m surprised you arn’t more, well, upset at Taran.”  The rest of the group agreed somewhat there.

Gleam nodded, trying to fight back a few tears, “He pulled a Taran, how many times did he do one odd stunt or another, or trick a bull headed evolved to see our way of things?  It’s because of things like what he just did to me I trust him so much. This is the first time I’ve been on the butt end of one is all, and yes it did hurt, but it’d be wrong of me to be mad at him just because I was the target for once.  Unfortunately with that said.” He sighed, gulping a bit, ears lowering, “Apparently Celebi saw fit to make me a whelp. Instead of changing me back to how I was. And that, that, that is going to change multiple plans. But let’s focus for the moment.  If you had asked me to take any of the whelps back at base through this dungeon I’d have looked at you like you were crazy, flat out refuse to do it, and seen what I could do to make sure you couldn’t post it as a quest.”

Gleam looked aside then whined, “And now that is just what we are doing, only problem is I’m the helpless whelp that will need to be coddled, protected, and fed in the middle of a dungeon.  So I’m the one who’s going to wind up in the way. I’ll try not to be, too much trouble.” He took in a bit of a breath, trying to calm himself some so he could do this officially.

“The whelp will be designated the guest, as standard procedure, the whelp will not be allowed to walk.”  he grumbled a bit, “Delphox’s capabilities far outstrip the rest of you, but with this being her first dungeon and the fact she’ll be carrying the whelp, it’s best if she doesn't lead.  Single line formation, Shinx in front, Rockruff in back, Ralts will need Rockruff’s superior abilities at covering so you will be middle back, with Delphox middle front. Don’t pickup treasure unless it happens to be in the way.  Delphox attack fast attack aggressively, Ralts you’re on cleanup. Shinx and Rockruff do not engage unless they come to you. But do lower the enemies effectiveness, so babydoll eyes is a good one to use when you see one coming your way.”  He sighed, considering all of their roles, “Please remember your main goal is to guide Delphox, and Delphox you are to keep the whelp guest safe. Generally missions like this lower pay each time the guest is hurt, no matter how stupid they act.  Speed will be the most important thing in this case.” he sighed, “So consider this a decent training run, many times guests aren’t as, agreeable as I’ll attempt to be.”

He earfolded, blushing a bit, “With official part over I’ll leave this up to all of you, if it’s ok I’d like at least a blowback wand to hold, just in case.  I’d like to turret as much as I can. But, well, my personal ranged attacks are gone. But it’s probably best I let all of you consider if I’m capable of doing that.”  He looked down slightly, “I didn’t want to say it officially one way or another. Because I know if any whelps at the base were being a guest, well I have said no to them turreting before in far easier dungeons.  And when it comes down to it I don’t know if I should be treated too differently or not given what just went on.”

The others looked on, nodding at the assignments, and the ralts was the first to make a response, she rubbed his back under his scarf, she looked to him and sighed, “Well I know nothing I say will be a surprise to you but.  Your feelings over this is still raw, and you’re taking it far too strongly, you didn’t need to designate as whelp so harshly.” She continued to rub, “But that’s why you wanted to leave it to us, you know you’re taking this a bit personal.  When what you need is for things to be practical.” She considered, “My biggest issue with the request is we all know you can’t be trusted to turret well. And you definitely know that. Not that you don’t know what you are doing. But Pele already mentioned your stamina is shot.  It isn’t a question of if you’ll become tired in the middle of the dungeon, it’s a question of when. So if we give you a wand, it’ll be mostly to just make you feel better, and we just hope it’ll be useful.” 

 

She looked to the rest, who nodded their heads that they trust her decision.  “I feel you will be as responsible with a wand as possible, but unreliable. You will be allowed to hold any spare wands we have, and you may use it as you see fit.  But it will be merely to satisfy a whelp who wants to feel like they are helping. If Taran or Flint need the wand later you are to give it over. Understand?” Gleam lowered his ears, but nodded, “Yes ma’am.”  Gleam then froze, blushing, that just came out naturally, while Kencil easily noticed his reaction.

“ _ You ok there?”  _ Gleam looked down shyly but responded, “ _ Yeah I just, I didn’t mean to say ma’am, it just came out on it’s own.”  _

Kencil gently hugged the kit, at this point she really wanted to comfort him, make him feel better.  The outburst that Taran triggered really got to her about just how vulnerable in other ways Gleam is.  She’s never felt emotions that raw from anyone in awhile. But apparently Gleam has been holding back. But she had to answer him a bit, “ _ I know you feel embarrassed over it, but for now let it slide.  You helped the evolved with the whelps on most of your off days here, got used to how they talk to those older than them.  Plus you just had your emotions bled out rawly.”  _ She looked him in the eyes a moment _ ,”You feel vulnerable, and you are emotionally exhausted, mon tend to act much simpler at that point.”   _

Kencil settled a bit, leaning against Pele then considered, looking up.  She sent a message to her for permission, and soon after gently plucked Gleam out of Pele’s arms, carefully cuddling him in her lap, as she laid back against Pele herself, both of them gently hugged by the delphox.

“ _ Basically just don’t think any of us will think poorly of you.  This is an unusual situation for all of us, and with the way you are now we will have to treat you differently.  But trust me we all still care for you, you sadly were asleep but you should have seen Flint when he first saw you, he let himself be fed by Pele because she wouldn’t let him near till he ate.  Then promptly curled up around you and fell asleep, talk about cute. I know we’ll do our best to not belittle you, but I think all of us want you to grow up well taken care of. Now it’s getting late and I think you should be falling asleep.  We sadly have a busy day tomorrow.” _

Gleam earfolded but nodded and sighed, “ _ Ugh I forgot for a moment about the fact you could sense that.  Yaknow it’s a well known thing among humans, to the point most of your line is known as the feeling pokemon.”  Gleam looked down, “We are, shelving a lot of discussions today arn’t we? Whenever later comes it’s going to be a busy time.  You should probably sleep too.”  _ Gleam winced upon a further realization, “ _ And remember to have someone set to wake up with me tonight, if I’m as small as you say I am, I’ll need it.” _

With that last bit communicated Gleam began trying to get sleep, he felt that scarf tucked around him for more warmth and just did what he could to drowse back to sleep, idly listening to the rest of the group chatter as they all readied for bed.  At some point he felt himself moved about, two warm bodies pressed near him.  His eyes flutted a second, but mostly he smelled Pele and Flint around him, he squirmed a moment as the rockruff gave him a few friendly licks, hearing him mutter sorry, but gleam just let it go, allowing the surrounding warmth to help him drift off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taran..you are such a troll, no really, you friggin troll.
> 
> For the sake of it I was planning a similar scene with Gleam being forced to realize exactly how weak he is, and yeah he would have broke down. Two issues, that cat has a decently high insight and knew there was a chance for that to happen..and breaking down in the middle of the dungeon would be bad for all of them at once. The other issue...Taran is the first of the characters here to take on a life of his own, so I’m suddenly getting a strong feeling of ‘no, this is what actually happens right here’, I’m honestly just trying to explain it without the usual crazy sounding “no this is what the character told me he’d do” that a lot of authors use, the problem is it really does feel like the character fights/talks with you about what they would really do. Hopefully he’ll be the only one to wake up, but we’ll see.
> 
> Otherwise this wasn’t a bad place to have this happen storywise, but it again made this chapter take longer than I wanted. I wanted to cover the evening and the morning, ending with them entering the dungeon, so the dungeon and perhaps right afterwards can have it’s own chapter. As it stands I think I’ll just gloss over the morning, as the characters are actively trying to push the drama/talks/etc that need to happen until after the dungeon. With good reason. And the morning will mostly being a reiteration of roles. Though now I’m having thoughts of other things to happen in the morning involving the guild, but I think I have a good way to handle that.
> 
> Ok forget all of that. I’ve written ahead some to try and make sure I don’t have another incident with a chapter released with no editing. Things have grown and changed a bit, while half thoughts and ideas have taken more precedence. And honestly given the entire point of this story is fluff, and these chapters are you’re guys intros to the character. Trying to make it faster, skip it over, and gloss over it just says this stuff isn’t important. So yeah next chapter now focuses solely on before dungeon stuff, with the dungeon directly after that. Since I’ve pre-written it, and just need to go back and edit I’m pretty sure that is what will happen. We’ll see if I’ll hafta eat my words anyway.
> 
> With that said, I figure this idea can be figured out from context but for the sake of it.
> 
> Taran: “Turreting is a technique sort of unique to the ‘game’ that this story takes place in. The general idea is that many of us un-evolved can easily ride on the shoulders or backs of many evolved, or a lot of single form pokemon. This allows them to move while those of us turreting can use our attacks. This also protects those of us turreting from many attacks. For instance earthquake won’t reach those being turreted, but many flying attacks targets the turret first, if not a multi-target attack.”
> 
> Darn you stupid cat stop breaking the 4’th wall, no there will be none of that in the story do you understand?
> 
> Taran :3, (a few days after writing this) by the way before you post, remember you wanted to explain the post game and whelp thing.
> 
> Darn cat…(a few days later) Darn cat again….thanks I spose.
> 
> So the decision to make Gleam a whelp, this one weighs heavily on me just because it leaves him rather incapable of dungeon adventures. And it reminds me too strongly of some other things I don’t care too much to mention. But it opens avenues for character interaction in other ways, and from the storytelling side and Celebi’s side it provides a perfect way to keep him from hiding how he feels too much. Beyond being weaker and feeling more pain from small hits (IE lower defenses), it in general helps him feel more vulnerable, it makes others see him as more vulnerable and in need of help, and it will cause more moments like this, where his being treated like a whelp, out of neccessity, forces him to show how upset he is over various events, and eventually all of his friends can begin helping him heal.
> 
> For the sake of it it was pretty much “congrats you saved everything, now back to your home with you”. And after the deaths at the end he was given no time to greave. Oh hey he’s back in the human world, someone discovered Gleam, Gleam what happened to you, where did you go, etc. And seriously as much as you can prob get by with it in the human and pokemon world how often do you just say “I turned into a pokemon for a few months, saved the world again, andnow I’m back”. You probably don’t really. So he never had time to mourn his losses as he tried to get on with his life.
> 
> As for Gameplay wise, as is usual for some PMD stuff I’m going to include a few outside of pokemon powers. Ya’know like how one character had the dimensional scream. Or characters had the ability to jump evolve from beginning to end evolution, and then return to normal. I more wanted to warn they’d be here than discuss it.


	6. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning for the group. Pele leaves herself more questions than answers, and Gleam starts to get an idea of how the guild has fared since he left.

Pele sighed as she slowly stretched awake, Kencil had mentioned that Gleam will probably need someone awake with him in the night.  Somehow she had already figured that, more knowledge she isn’t sure on the source of. She looked down at the little fox, lightly prying him from between herself and Flint, and softly felt his stomach.  Yeah he was about empty. She heard Flint whimper and lightly rubbed his side. Figure’s he’d react to Gleam being pulled away, but whelps have their needs. And she needed to tend to her little kit. She shook her head and reminded herself Gleam, not her kit, no matter how much her heart melted when he called her mama.  That was Taran forcing things, and as much as that felt nice, it’s still weird to think of her trainer as her child.

If anything he has more right as a parent, he’s the one who taught her so much, but now, well look at what she’s doing now.  She hadn’t even realized she’d started grooming his messy fur, why is this so easy for her? Well she might as well use Taran’s trick, well let’s be honest Gleams trick.  When she was sick as a fennekin he’d actually do that to her, using a warm damp rag. Now here she is returning the favor. 

She soon had him awake enough to eat and pulled out what the others had referred to as a food berry.  Oran berries were valuable in dungeons as they could heal you, but this berry only provided sustenance.  So she brought the Bluk berry up to his maw, smiling and watching that nose twitch, then his maw opened, and she put it in, watching him chew then swallow.  She honestly wished she had a better way of feeding him, but considering what she knew of the human world, the only other real method she can think of he’d probably never go for, maybe in his sleep but he’s embarrassed enough about being young.

She perked as Gleam started to open his eyes, then shhhed to him warmly, and started to repeat Flint’s actions from the day.  Gleam squirmed a bit, earfolding, and managing to talk in a rather whiny voice, “Pele no..’” She shushed a moment more and spoke softly, trying to singsong her voice so it might help, “You’ve got a big day ahead, and need your sleep.  Relax my little flametwig, go back to sleep.” She saw Gleam staring up at her a moment, and she shhh’d, licking along his muzzle and over his eyes, she wondered if he realized what she was doing. And if that is part of why he was fighting it, to be treated like this by her.  But she continued and he slowly settled down then dozed back to sleep.

Now she was awake, and had already brought thoughts onto her mind.  She might as well take a watch outside, and see how the fire is doing.  It’s good to keep away the truely wilds. She made sure Gleam was well bundled in his blanket and helped Flint curl back up around him before she went outside, seeing to re-stoking the fire while she thought to herself.

In truth she wanted more time to reflect on the knowledge she knows little about.  Everything she seems able to learn by just being reminded of it. Perhaps she can do it without being in a panic.  Also to reflect on the three new un-evolved with her. They seem to know what they are doing. Kencil seems the most altogether of them.  Though she shouldn’t discount Taran. He seems to have some decent insight, and he seems to know something he hasn’t told anyone. Flint, Gleams other partner, that no longer hurt to think about really.  But if the day was any indication he had been just as hurt by events as Gleam had been. Perhaps meeting the pup made it easier, she knows he cares for Gleam just as much, perhaps it was seeing his pain.

She really wished now she knew more about how an actual mother delphox might treat their young.  She apparently hit upon one technique, but she doubts it’d work on gleam, oddly it seemed tailored specifically for a ralts.  Maybe she just altered some other technique. She’d hate to make Kencil think more about her lost family, but she might be able to get some idea on how to handle Gleam better.  She’ll need to find some way to not hurt her little sister and broach the question.

She’s completely awake now and needs something to do.  She pulled her twig out from her robe and now that she considered it’s origin she wondered where most Braixen and Delphox got the twigs they use from.  If whoever made her egg wasn’t a fennekin where did they get theirs? She still cherishes hers, somehow Gleam had known when she was first evolving. She didn’t know what he was doing at first, but he kept grabbing branch after branch, twig after twig, until he found one he liked.  He spent a good while working it with his utility knife until he had the shape. She ran her paw over the engraved markings, she knew the human language pretty well, but this was something he didn’t teach her. He said they were letters, the language humans spoke, but made visible. The short one was her name.  He said the longer engraving was the flowers she so loved to look at, and eat, celosia. He otherwise had treated it with something that made it so it wouldn’t burn up when focusing her fire on it. Perhaps some day when he evolved she could repay the favor, give her kit, Gleam, she reminded herself, his own personal twig, something just as special.

With those thoughts on mind, she went ahead and lit the twig, holding it up to where she could stare into the fire.  She didn’t know how much she trusted that pokedex thing, but it claimed a delphox could see the future doing this. If anything watching the fire let her focus her thoughts a bit better.  But why not see if she can somehow use her fire and psychic reserves to bring a vision of the future out from the fire.

* * *

Kencil slowly awoke, stretching lightly and sitting up.  She looked over to Shinx, who had joined her in the tent.  She gave him a bit more of the blanket and sat up. It was pretty common for her to rise first among the group.  She wondered if the fire went out overnight, not that it would matter too much, with a delphox there to easily light a new one.  Still a warm fire would be nice to come out to.

As she came out she instead found a well stocked fire and Delphox sitting in front of it, staring into a twig lit on fire.  She wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but then she had sudden memories of her mother doing the same thing. Are delphox’s really so alike?  Though usually mother’s fire would dance, she always liked watching the dancing fire, how it moved on the stick. Pele’s was just sitting there.  On the other side Pele felt emotionally calm and collected, and otherwise rather quiet. This apparently did something for her.

She moved over to quietly sit beside big sis, just curious to see what was going on.  And enjoy the warmth of the campfire, she felt a paw go onto her head, gently rubbing her, and Pele unlit the twig, putting it away.

“Good morning little sister.  Did you sleep well?”

Kencil looked up in surprise, “I ah, I didn’t know you saw me there.  I was going to wait until you were done, doing whatever it is delphox’s do that for.”

Pele sighed softly, “Honestly I don’t know if we do that or not.  Gleam, as a human, he carried this small machine thing with him. It could talk, and it could show images, and from what he said it showed information on each species of pokemon he had seen.  Anyway I remember when he had it tell information about me when I became a delphox, it said that we stare into the flame on the twig to focus and see the future, or something like that. Never really tried it before, but I figured if I could ever use the ability to see the future, seeing what happens in the dungeon could be useful.”

“For the sake of it, I really had no luck, but honestly it helps me focus some anyway.  And I’m not sure how truthful it is anyway, I think most psychic types it mentions something about seeing the future somehow.  Ask him about gardevoir sometime, I’m sure it’ll somehow say something something, sees the future, something something.”

Kencil tilted her head softly, “That sounds like an interesting, thing.  To carry information on all pokemon one has seen, that is quite a marvelous machine.  Maybe a properly trained delphox can do something to see the future, and it’s something you don’t know how to do?  I saw mom staring into her twig flame a few times, and when she did it she somehow made the flame on the twig dance, it might have involved that.”

Pele nodded softly, considering that more then smiled and looked to the ralts,”so little sis, what brings you awake so early?”

She blushed a moment then smiled warmly, “I am usually an early riser, at the guild I’ll often start up the early morning preparations.  Gathering info from the previous day together, seeing what new jobs have come in. What about you, why are you awake so early big sis?”

Pele giggles, “Fair enough question.  Gleam, I woke up and his stomach felt about empty.  Fed and groomed him some, put him back down with Flint and decided to check the campfire.  Wanted to keep away as many wild pokemon as possible. And figured there wouldn’t be enough fire lovers around to worry about.  Beyond that I was wanting time to think and reflect, about Gleam in general.”

The ralts looked up curiously, feeling a wave of emotions, some positive, some negative, all circling around an undercurrent of love from the delphox.  She sighed, “You still have misgivings sis?”

Pele sighed, “Yes and no.  You ask me if I would follow him here again.  I’d say yes. You ask me if I would have talked him out of coming here at all?  Because if I had said I didn’t want to come I think he would have stayed human for me”  She sighed softly, “No I wouldn’t have, all six of us, his core team as he referred to us, we wanted him to be happy.  I just missed him greatly still and clung to him jealously, I would have stopped him from coming here if I couldn’t come as well.  It, it would have been wrong of me, it was wrong of me to beg he not leave me again like that. But Celebi saw fit to allow me to join him, and so we are here.”

Pele softly blinked away a few tears, “No, my question is what are we now.  He’s no longer human.” Pele sighed, “I can get over that, I honestly pretty much have already, I still love him just as much, maybe more I’m not sure.  But trainers tend to be human, not pokemon. On our side we use the term partner as well, having a similar meaning to it. But despite all of his knowledge, despite all he remembers about all of us together.  Celebi took away his adulthood, she stole his strength. If he had come over here a fellow delphox I could tell you here and now what I’d want. But he isn’t that. He isn’t even a fennekin, you say whelp here.  Over there human’s have many words for their young, among the most helpless is infant, baby, toddler. And he reminds me more of that.” 

Pele wiped away another tear, “I fear his ability to think straight lately, is he prone to more fits like Taran started?  Will he panic during a fight, or can he keep a straight head on his shoulder, he already panicked and ran from a fight he merely remembered.  How much of this change is due to him, how much is changed because of Celebi. I know he wants to keep our relationship as it is to a degree, but is it best I do that for him, is that really what either of us needs?  That’s the more infuriating thing, I can feel my on thoughts on him change, seeing him in a different light, wanting, needing a different sort of relationship from him, and I fear how he’d react, as it is one I do not believe he wants.  If he’s as on edge as you say, I’m afraid of how far he might break down.”

The ralts frowned, rubbing Pele’s side gently, and did her best to hug the larger mon, feeling the pokemons frustration well up inside of her, “Pele, honestly we need to talk about this sometime.  When it’s safe. You, me, and him.” She closed her eyes, “I’ve been wanting to ask something of the two of you. Something I want, but I believe something you and he may benefit from.” 

Kencil sighed deeply, “It feels greedy of me, but you and he, remind me so greatly of the family I lost.  You’re a lot like mom. I keep wondering just how similar all of you delphox’s are. Even your psychic signature is similar to what I remember of hers.”  She looked down a little bit, “But I think I have at least something to help you with him. If anything I know you’ll need a suitable environment to help take care of him, and I know of one.  When sis disappeared, mother sealed her home soon after, and left to find her. None of us have been able to get into it but.”

Pele nodded, “It’s a house built for a Delphox and a whelp fennekin, and perhaps a ralts too I bet.  And you wonder if I may be unable to do her seal.” Pele smiled a little bit, hugging an arm around Ralts, “I fear my line of thinking is becoming maddening.  As Gleam would say I believe I should shelve it until later. When combat does not loom over us. But using your mother’s old house would at least make sense, if you do not believe it would be dishonoring to her.”

Kencil smiled softly, “I believe it will be fine, it would at least hold furnishings to comfort a fennekin whelp.  Which I believe she would enjoy knowing.”

Ralts looked down, her badge buzzing for attention, “huh I wonder what’s up.”  She tapped it a few times, “This is Ralts, do you copy?”

A young female voice came over the badge, “Ralts, finally one of you has answered me.  I’ve tried buzzing Rockruff and Shinx. None of you made it home yesterday and I feared the worst when I got no answer this morning.”

She sighed with a frown, “Give me a moment sis.  It might be best if you use mental communication with me if you like, what we are doing is a bit under the radar, though I’m not sure on the exact reason why.  But I need to talk with Vulpix and put this out before a fire begins.”

“Shinx and Rockruff are ok, you should have buzzed me first, you know they are late sleepers Vulpix.  But I can see both of them sleeping in their tents, though looks like you’ve started to wake Rockruff up.  The status of our team is ok, we are roughly halfway through our mission. If things go well we should be home by today.”

Vulpix gave a heavy sigh of relief, “Thank you Raltz, how soon will you three be heading out this morning?”

Kencil considered a moment, “Considering our mission.  You want Rockruff to assist with assembly today don’t you?  I believe we will all be waiting for an event to happen anyway before we leave and assembly will probably end before that, give me a moment to make sure with Shinx and Rockruff.”

“Sis, I think you’ll agree with me that Gleam will need all the sleep he can get before we do this.  And I’m pretty sure Shinx and Rockruff would agree too. Would you mind making sure with those two, and taking care of Gleam?  You might as well listen in on what a morning assembly is like anyway. We attend them every day, unless on vacation.”

Pele smiles, “Yes I’d like to let Gleam sleep as much as he can, but I’ll go wake up the two sleepy heads for you at least.”

Kencil smiled a bit pulling her badge back out, “Ok Vulpix we can get started on those notes….”

* * *

“And finally for my absence, late into giving assignments yesterday a new high priority issue came up.  I deemed it important to send some of our most experienced explorers to it, due to the nature of the assignment.  As it would require a 3 mon team in a tough environment, choosing Raltz, Shinx, and myself. In order to keep rumors away I’d like to keep quiet on the nature of the job for now, however I can report we are halfway through the job.  And just waiting on timing to continue through a dungeon. Once we are through the dungeon you can expect an update.”

Gleam blinked as he was slowly waking up listening to Flint talk over his badge, giving a squeaky lil yawn and starts to try to stretch, only to find himself still inside of his scarf, looking up to find Pele holding him.  Sitting a bit aways from the other 3 as they handled some morning guild stuff, as he started to move Pele looked down to him, softly put a finger over her muzzle, the usual keep quiet sign, and she brought a bluk berry to his maw.  He folded his ears down softly, shaking his head a bit, then felt that buzzing in his body again and readied for mental contact.

“ _ Come on Gleam, I know you need to eat, your stomach isn’t near full anymore.  And right now your friends are occupied with morning assembly.”  _ Pele gently petted along his head.

Gleam frowned and since Pele seemed to still be listening, “ _ I’d like to feed myself is all.  Seriously since I’ve been here I don’t think I remember eating something by myself, it’s been out of your paw this whole time.” _

_ Pele considers a bit, frowning then hmmed, “We don’t have any bowls like you’d use for your old team.  I know you can’t hold a berry in your paws, unless you know some trick I don’t. So you want me to just throw it into the dirt, take you out of your nice warm blanket, so you’re all shivery and eating dirty berry?”  _  So he found himself eating again from Pele’s paw, then earfolded as he noticed she had pulled out quite a few berries, she must plan to fill his stomach full.

“Rattata I leave in town assignments to you, Vulpix you’ll be monitoring the expeditions.  If we have a good trip through this dungeon I would like for all of the guild to be there so please make sure, if at all possible, everyone has assignments they can finish in one day.”  Flint looked over noticing Gleam waking up and eating, then looked as if he suddenly remembered something, “Oh before I forget, Vulpix you mentioned some of the Gummi dungeons began appearing yesterday.  Have at least one team go there if it’s safe. Whoever does that, please do not throw out fire type gummies, in fact I’d appreciate it if you made extra sure we had some. Anyway we’ll finish with reciting the extended version of tradition 5.  Rattata please set your badge to broadcast to TerraFlare badge number 55.” Flint looked to Ralts and nodded, while she walked over to Pele and Gleam, holding up a badge for her. Flint sighed, “I know Rattata, our group has it right now.”

Pele grabbed the badge looking at it curiously, and it started to beep softly.  Gleam felt as Kencil and Pele communicated telepathically, watching Pele be guided through the buttons for the badge, it crackling to life a moment later.  And he heard as the entire group began to recite.

“Tradition 5, the unspoken tradition.  We live as a team, we work as a team, we survive as a team, we thrive as a team.  All members from the newest freshest recruit, to the eldest scarred senior are important to our team.  No-one, no matter how lacking in ability is unimportant, the right job can always be found. All team members are to be treated with equal respect, while their needs are met.  When on an expedition no team member is to be willingly left behind. Our teamwork is of up-most importance.”

Gleam had a tear brought to his eyes, Flint chose that one on purpose, due to his own condition.  He watched as Ralts attached Pele’s badge to her chest, then Pele fished out his own badge from the supply bags, a moment later Ralts attached his as well, the need to undo his scarf a bit leaving him shivering lightly.  He half listened as Flint closed down announcements. Pele soon set her own badge back into standby and smiles down to Gleam, “You didn’t mention that tradition when you inducted me.”

Gleam blushed a moment, “It’s the unspoken tradition, the short version doesn’t include it.  Because it’s less about what we do as a guild..and more of a reminder that despite the fact we sometimes compete between official exploration teams, the guild as a whole is one big team.  A big family one might say.”

Pele nodded softly as Kencil spoke up, ”Funny you should say that Gleam.”

Gleam gulped a moment, “What now?”

Kencil sighed pensively, “Nothing too bad but, Explorer Team TerraFlare, the team founded by the saviors of the cosmos, and the team of the current guildmaster, kind of ballooned in popularity.  Our team is the last one created before, well, before all of the evolved left. All of the evolved teams are gone, completely. I mean they had some un-evolved members left. But unlike TerraFlare none of them were in high ranking positions.  For instance Eevee is trying to keep up with his dad’s team, but it’s honestly just him, Hoppip, and Skitty. None of them have high rank in team Elemental, and the only way team Elemental gets any points, is because Flint found a workaround with guild leaders being able to assign tasks to a team.  Rattata even left Spite, and has worked his way back up the ranks as a TerraFlare member.”

Gleam frowned, “Hold it, so Flint is officially the Guild Leader now?  I was wondering why I heard him leading the morning meeting. How did that happen?  That doesn’t even touch the oddness of the teams yet, and Rattata, I mean we made amends but to join my team...”

The ralts nodded, “Apparently it was a last gift from Bisharp, due to the doubt he had placed upon our Team.  When Flint returned home it turned out Bisharp had given one more mission to the team.”

Gleam sighed cutting in, “I didn’t think he was serious about that being a mission.  He was the last of the evolved we saw. He told us he was ordering us to have two missions, to stop the destruction of the cosmos, and to return home.  Don’t tell me he applied so many points to returning home that--”

Kencil cut back in, “That Team TerraFlare became a master rank team, and it’s two founders were automatically set as shared guild leaders, with the ability for high ranking mon in the team to be chosen for guild leader as well?  Yeah that’s exactly what happened. Most of the un-evolved trust the saviors of the cosmos so--”

Gleam whined, “Is that honestly a title they gave to us?  Saviors of the cosmos that I just.” He sighed in exasperation, “I get the picture.  Haven’t a few whelps grown old enough to be able to explore? Don’t they want to form their own exploration teams?  Why hasn’t Flint raised some members within their own te---” Gleam paused, then realized part of what Kencil said, “Shared guild leaders?!  I’m a guild leader?”

Kencil sighed, “It’s a bit of a mess Gleam, all around.  Flint hadn’t gone exploring in weeks, this mission to escort you is his first one in ages.  And until yesterday he never mentioned any of what went on here. And not to mention.” Kencil considered a moment, “Actually I’d like to stop that.  Flint started crying at describing it, your own emotional state is vulnerable for the moment. And Pele mentioned a few things that hesitate me asking for fear of triggering something in you.”  Anyway looks like Flint is almost done with administration.

Gleam grumped at the sudden change in talk, but nodded snuggling back against Pele as both fox’s perked their ears as Flint and Shinx came over, Vulpix broadcasting out of his badge, “Look Flint this isn’t just curiosity.  I hate to think about you three being lost, but it’s possible, we need to know where you are and what exactly you three are doing. If at all possible we will mount a rescue when needed. Look I’m alone right now so it’ll be just me, now cut out the crap and tell me what’s going on.”  Flint was about to respond when Gleam shook his head “Let me handle it.”, he looked up to Pele, “mindlink a moment.” She nodded, as she listened in to him telepathically, Gleam sharing an idea and soon he activated his badge, while Pele set hers to a piggyback mode where Gleam talking into his would overide her badge talking.   
  
Vulpix sighed, “Flint don’t leave on whatever you are doing yet, I’ve got a call coming in marking itself important, a team founder call, who in blazes, your the only team founder left, yeah I need to check this out, I will contact you back.”

Flint looked over, “what are you up to?”   
  
Gleam sighed, “She has a point, what if you three got lost on the way to us?  You should have at least told her where you were going if not the mission itself.  Besides it’s Vulpix I haven't had a chance to poke at her pointy nose in awhile.”

Gleam waited for the acknowledgement of his call, especially since he made extra sure this would draw notice, founding member of his team wanting attention, grinning as he heard vulpix acknowledge.  “This is founding team member Fennekin.” Pele started in her part, “And new trusted member Delphox.” Gleam continued, “Celebi has saw fit to return me from my world with an escort. However my return has had it’s issues, apparently I can’t come here without one problem or another, honestly I blame you.  I am in no condition to explore a dungeon, and I’ve no idea how long I will be in this condition. Member Ralts will help determine that once we return. With that said the current mission for Rockruff, Ralts, Shinx, and Delphox are to escort me back through Dusk Forest, and back home, do you understand?”  Gleam paused.

He waited several seconds, Vulpix finally responded,”Frack.”

Gleam smirked a moment, “Love you too pointy face.”

Vulpix groaned, “Don’t start that with me right now fluff for brains.”   
  
Gleam sighed, “Let me have my fun frozen fluff, trust me when I return you’ll have quite the one up on me anyway.”

“Does this have anything to do with your condition?”

Gleam earfolded, “That would be correct, Celebi apparently could not return me to my old form, which is why Delphox returned with me.”

Vulpix hmmed over the radio, “This have anything to do with your voice sounding adorable and Rockruff’s request that fire gummies have increased importance in being collected.”

“Ugh...yes pointy nose, and shut up.”

Vulpix giggled over the line, “Fine fine, but I call dibs on feeding you your first gummi myself.”

Pele opened up her badge,”You’ll need to contend with me over that right.  Be nice and I might let you.” Gleam at that point was just blushing up a storm and trying not to whine, unsuccessfully.

Vulpix responded, “Delphox, a fully evolved?  I hope you plan to protect our co-founder well.  How trained are you for this mission?”

“I was trained from fennekin to delphox by founder fennekin.  My speciality is long ranged fighting, and apparently I’m stronger than most of you back at base.  My job back at the old place was specifically to fight for a non-combatant. This will be my first time in a dungeon, but I assure you I am more than capable of protecting my trainer and my partner.  I will also watch out for our other three members, whose main job is to help me navigate the dungeon.”

Vulpix replied, “Your possessive of him, I like that, good.  It’ll be good to have him back, no-one else is really fun to pick on, though, you need me to go softer Fennekin? After a very adoreable lil whine. You’ve gone quiet.”

Gleam answered, “We, we’ll hafta find out, I am really not comfortable with my current condition, you just reminded me of it frozen snout, also no gummies”

Vulpix giggled over the badge, “Sorry I already called dibs, and we’ll see what fun I can have later.  By the way you’ve been upgraded, you aren't fluff for brains anymore, you’re little fluff. But in all seriousness, get home safely, I had forgotten how much I missed bantering with you.  How long until all of you start on the dungeon?”

Pele opened hers back up, giggling a moment but shhing a very blushing Gleam who was starting to whine more loudly, “Oh now you’ve done it, that one really embarrassed him, you two are rather cute, now for your question.  We were just waiting on Gleam to be fully rested, he’s awake now. So once you and Flint are done with everything,we will be packing up camp and on our way.”

“Copy, you gave me the info I wanted, and darling once I evolve I plan to be exquisitely beautiful, nothing cute about me, though Gleam, he always was just adorable.  As soon as all of you leave the dungeon please contact me. Otherwise I need to set up the other explorations for the day. I wish you’re team well Delphox.”

Pele giggled and looked down to Gleam, “You didn’t mention you had a girlfriend over here too.”

Gleam groaned, “It isn’t like that really.  Why does everyone insist that?” he sighed, “And really are all of you going to make me eat gummies.” he made a bit of a face, “I mean I already have shown I can eat berries and apples, I don’t need to eat whelp food too.”

Flint sighed a moment, “This isn’t just about treating you like a whelp, this is about your nutrition.  And right now isn’t time to argue over this. We need to tear down this camp and get in the dungeon quickly, the more we wait the more tired you’ll get.  And you know what kind of trouble a tired whelp can be in a dungeon.” 

Gleam earfolded and quieted down but nodded, “point made.”  He made sure his scarf, well blanket, was around him properly and moved his way out of Pele’s lap.  Watching as the others began clean-up, he started to try to help but found himself shooed back mostly for fear of his safety.  Going from one area to another, even sometimes trying to start a duty that hadn’t been touched yet, but still carefully shooed away so he won’t hurt himself, Pele at least offered him a twig to snack on which distracted him for a moment.  But still he spent most of his time trying to find some way to help. 

Finally Ralts came over to him, and she requested he consolidate their two bags of items and organise it for easy retrieval.  He paused for a moment, this was an easy task she could have done in seconds, on the other side it was something he could do. So he nodded and got to work on getting everything set up correctly in the bag.  Each member had their own prefered way to organize the bag, but a basic stock organization had been agreed upon sometime back, everybody was taught this stock one so that if they had to trade around a bag or similar, anyone could easily find what they wanted quickly.  He had already figured out what Kencil had done, but he really didn’t care. He was wanting to help, and she found something they felt ok letting him do.

He sighed and would need to talk with her later, he was more curious what prompted her to find him with busy work than anything else.  Because she either needs kudos for remembering something he explained sometime back, or for noticing how he felt at the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was interesting. When I originally wrote this chapter..it was huge. No seriously the program I write my stories in. I tend to stop around 11 pages. As that usually feels at the right length. From there I split it up into 3 chapters, and focused a bit more on the nuances of each chapter. I’m sure a few have noticed I find it useful to write with allowing you to see the thoughts of just one character at a time. When it was one big huge chapter I made Kencil the viewpoint of the dungeon, as her job is to watch the party, since she’s the healer. So her attention tends to be more on what the others are doing. It also allows me to hide certain things that I want to be hidden until later.
> 
> Kencil is still the lead of the dungeon, and that is the next chapter, I promise. More on that in a bit.
> 
> With that said..when I split up the chapters and began focusing more on the nuances, and did less rushing I found I really really liked using Kencil’s viewpoint. She’s an empath, which is natural for Ralts, their horn is naturally used to read emotions. Otherwise.
> 
> Pele is still fighting with her feelings, feelings that she finds alien, and feelings that she feels are downright wrong. And yes if Gleam was a Delphox I would totally need to label this Mature, even if I never went into anything risky, she would just be that bad. 
> 
> I added in a few things here and there to give more on her past. Braixen and Delphox both use a twig when it comes to doing attacks, I liked the idea of her wondering where it came from. I also enjoyed the idea of Gleam knowing when she was close to evolving, and deciding to give her something personal.
> 
> Also the bit on Pele talking about the pokedex. I had her say that for Gardevoir for a bit of a laugh, because I remembered it mentioning they love their trainer and can do like..form miniature black holes. It was just a total joke of her generalizing the pokedex. I then looked up gardevoir for other reasons related to this story, and yeah, some of the latest ones say ‘it has the power to read the future”. It gave me a laugh.
> 
> Vulpix and Gleam are fun to write, when Gleam is capable to give and take the fun.
> 
> And yes Gleam is getting a little bit tired of being hand fed. Pele could have probably found another way to satisfy Gleams request, but she enjoys feeding him.
> 
> As a note with the next chapter. The next one is looking like it might come up short. So I’m thinking of posting it in the middle of the week, and that way i can get up a full chapter at my usual time. Part of my temptation is the note it leaves on, I know some people might want to know what happens next rather quickly.
> 
> I’m prob near note limit, so as usual commments are appreciated.


	7. A Trainers Last Command

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally it has become time to enter the dungeon. And see just how well Trained Pele truly is.

Ralts let out an expectant breath, back in the dungeon, this time with two more members, but one of them a whelp, one who she noticed was constantly teetering on the edge emotionally.  And the other, a new member who has never been in a dungeon before. The low supplies left her feeling worried as well. They had enough food, with the apples Pele had cooked up, but healing supplies were pitifully low.  The influx from what Pele and Gleam brought with them was helpful, but apparently they had stocked up on human made healing items that didn’t make their way over here. But the few extra oran and chesto berries helped.

She was chosen to carry the bag for this job since Pele would be handling Gleam.  Right now he was turreting with a blowback wand. But she could sense a bit of panic to him.  On the other side she noticed when the panic started to overwhelm he seemed to press closer to Pele, not try to move away, though she sensed a bit of guilt as he does that.  He’s probably realizing he needs to be soothed, but as usual for him, anything done that makes him feel better he worries over. 

Why does he have so much guilt over others doing things for him?  Is it related to Luxray maybe, since Luxray’s last action was to do something for Gleam, to save him.    None the less this is going to be trouble if he keeps it up, he might wind up hiding when he needs help. He is going to be a tough whelp to take care of, and not because he’s too needy and fussy.

She perked up as she spotted one of the first enemies on the floor, she better pay more attention to the dungeon and less to her thoughts on Gleam.  Analyse the dungeon and mon’s tactics now, not plans for later. Looks like a lone Shiftry for now. This should be a decent test to determine how powerful Pele is, weak to Fire, should be an easy two hit kill with fire. Then again this entire dungeon was mostly grass and bug.  She looked behind her at Flint, he was watching curiously too, the entire line curious how strong this human trained pokemon was.

She looked back to Pele who had pulled out a twig from her fur, and was utilizing it to focus her move, Raltz paused a moment, why did she feel fairy energy welling up?  Pele shot a powerful burst of dazzling pure light at the fake Shiftry, who vanished after a single hit. Kencil let out a gulp, “that was, you didn’t use a fire move but still in one shot.”

Pele spoke evenly, more calculating and less, like the caring motherly figure Ralts was used to, “This dungeon is mostly grass and bug, fire will be the most used answer.  So I need to reserve it and if I can take out something with a non-fire move I’m probably better off doing that. Shiftry’s dark typing makes it weak to Fairy attacks, and Dazzling Gleam works just fine for that, even if I can’t hit as hard with it as I can with Mystical Fire or Psychic.”

Kencil nodded, “ok, fine enough.”  She was worried though, Pele was being guarded, she guessed in part her mind was on battle, on protecting, on keeping her trainer safe.  Resorting to her training with Gleam. But she could feel an undercurrent of worry and panic to the Delphox, her panicking would not be good.  But she got the feeling that Pele was also in mental communication with Gleam. It might be washover from him. Unless it got worse she’ll wait to check during the rest floor.

The rest of the floor was going pretty swimmingly, true to Gleams word, Pele was trained for true offence, everything they met went down in a single shot.  She could also feel the worry from Pele subside, as if she was starting to relax in the dungeon. The rest of the team had started to do so as well. Shinx was leading them through an odd wavering path, but somehow always wound up entering a room close to a wall so they could hug it and keep enemies from from being able to easily flank.

* * *

Floor 4 had a bit of an accident, as well as a reminder that sometimes that whelp can pull off a few tricks.  A rather fast bug illusion came rushing up the side of the team, before Pele could attack, it hit an explosive trap, the area damage of it affecting Kencil and Flint.  They took it pretty well, but belabored expanding more resources this early. Gleam started to wiggle a bit, and Pele paused a moment, and she asked the shinx to stop as well.

Gleam spoke up softly, “Save the heal pulse for now.  I I think I can still do this safely and better do this while is safe.”  And she tried to figure out what he was up to. The kit was feeling unsure, worried.  Then she felt fairy energy gathering up, the kit still feeling worried, but some elation as well.  He slumped against Pele,”k keep going.” He yawned a little bit. The unevolved of the group had a look of confusion and partial recognition, while Pele urged the group to continue, seemingly unsurprised, but Kencil could tell, Pele had surprise and now some worry on her, and some seconds later the whole team felt the effects of a light tingling warm rain feeling, though only Kencil and Flint felt the full effect, both of them being healed by the use of wish.  Kencil blinked, “I forgot he could do that.”

Pele sighed, “He has wish, useful to know.  But come on we can’t let that distract us in this dungeon.”

* * *

At the seventh’s floor now, after this was a resting area.  Due to Pele’s success on earlier floors, they agreed for the starter floors they would do a little gathering.  No big movements out of the way, but if something looked like it could be useful alter the path enough to grab it.  In this way they’ve started to restock their goods some. A petrify orb, a slow orb, a blast wand, definitely handy in this dungeon.  Flint was holding onto that one. And they hit the stairs.

Ralts sighed and took a moment to sit down, “About halfway through the dungeon.  I enjoy the fact it’s been easy so far, but I keep waiting for something to happen it’s putting me on edge.”  She decided to start off with feeling uneasy, hoping it might draw out whatever is bothering Pele, something is worrying Pele but she doesn’t know what.

Shinx just laid down, “Easy peasy so far, can we go on more dungeons with you Pele, you’d make restocking runs so much easier.”

Flint nodded his agreement.

Ralts looked to Pele and Gleam, looking to see what they might say, but Pele had grabbed Gleam off her shoulder with a frown, “thought so…”  They all perked up, with Flint asking what.

Pele sighed, “I was holding mental communication with Gleam, so I could see what strategy he’d suggest, and help me watch for other mon I might not notice.  It’s how I’m used to battling with him, and I figured he might be more useful in that regard. Especially since he’s been through the dungeon once before. Thankfully I had figured out the right patterns already.  Shortly after his little trick on the 4’th floor he stopped all mental communication. He’s fallen asleep. Well at least we haven’t needed his wand. And I suppose I should feel glad he felt safe enough to fall asleep.”

Kencil frowned, “No..he just needs a lot of sleep.  Trust me you’re presence at the moment is the only thing keeping him from panicking.” She sighed, “I tried to fish it out nicely but I need to ask Pele, are you ok?  You seem to be holding out ok but i can feel--”

Pele sighed, “I’m ok, well ok enough, which is to say nothing that will affect my ability to fight.  There is some strange familiar feeling about being in here, the winding corridors, the pathways, the odd stairs, and I keep feeling like something horrible is going to happen.  Don’t worry, when I’m in battle mode such thoughts take a backseat. But yeah I’d like to know why I feel so worried in here myself. All I know is that it’s something very basic for me.  It’s just another issue I’d like to talk with you about later, when we can relax some.”

Flint spoke up, “I’m still wondering how Gleam picked up wish.  Before when he used it we thought he learned it from somewhere before he came here.  And once he remembered he was a trainer and he explained he specifically memorized all teachable moves to me, I figured it was just a move he taught himself.  But he’s now too young to use anything but the most basic moves, and yet he still has wish”

Pele shook her head, “No it makes sense, if he can use tail whip, and scratch, though weakly, he can use wish.  That was probably also a weakened version, but still useful.”

Flint perked, “You know how he can do it?”

Pele nods, “In a way, Celebi probably just gave it to him.  But.” she sighed looking at Ralts then looked to flint, “I’ll need to explain the egg thing again huh?”

Flint perked then chuckled, “Gleam already talked about that oddity with me one time we were discussing whelps.  He actually mentioned one of his pokemon he trained produced an egg twice.”

Pele laughs, “Yeah, that was me.  The smeargle was an interesting fellow, he drew interest in my fire abilities, and I had fun being an inspiration to him, figuring different ways to use one move or another elegantly, as if I was in one of those shows.  Halfway through that one of the eggs formed. I was having fun showing him the fire stuff so we continued once we were rested up, he wound up making a painting, and even asked me to burn and singe in areas for effect. Finishing that painting together, we produced a second egg.

Flint nodded, “You know Gleam thought about it, he now feels kind of guilty for trading away one of those eggs.  Realizing inside was your child.”

Pele nodded, “It, felt normal at the time, no love lost.  But now..I shudder to think of the idea, like. What if I traded away Gleam.   Though now I wonder, he never did anything with the second egg, he said he might hatch it later, maybe give it to dad.”  She paused a moment, “Let me rephrase that, to a human among the pokemon world that new trainers often receive pokemon from.  But to my knowledge it’s still in storage.” She closed her eyes, “I kind of want that egg, have my kit inside of it.”

Kencil felt a rainbow of emotions of Pele recalled that, happy, sad, melancholy, and a deep seated need, as well as much more.  But she felt Pele push those back for the moment.

Pele looked up, “But never mind that, I mentioned the whole egg thing because of wish.  Which is why I was breeding with smeargle. That smeargle had learned wish. And obviously we were capable of producing an egg together.  Gleam said that since one of it’s two parents knew wish, the child should be born with wish as well.”

Pele shrugged, “Some moves you literally need to be born with.  He should have a slightly different energy reserve due to this, capable of storing what is needed for wish as well.  Wonder if that has any after effect.”

Flint nodded, “Him having wish is kind of useful. Maybe we should wake him back up, let him use up wish as it is.  Though I kind of hate to wake him back up now that he’s asleep, he’d probably wind up cranky.”

Ralts sighed, “Leave him sleeping, he’s been worried and close to panicking for most of this dungeon.  If you watched him much, he would every so often press against Pele for comfort. I’m just glad he’s recognizing what keeps him from freaking out, and is using it as needed.  That’s another talk we’ll need to have with him. Taran has convinced him he’s a whelp, but now he’s starting to worry over being a burden. When we get back with him well, Pele we kinda need you to help with dungeon runs, I know you want to watch over Gleam but we could use you for the dungeons too.  I only say that because when you aren’t watching him it might be best for him to be put in with a group of whelps, at least let him be with Shii, so he doesn’t need to worry about special treatment, instead feeling like he’s treated the same way everyone else is.”

Pele frowns a bit, “Can I at least settle in with him for a bit of time?”

Flint nodded this time, “We’ll have enough for a little bit of time, but most of our food stores come from dungeon runs.  We are having issues getting plants to grow again, and the grass types in town are all whelps, so their expertise isn’t really something we can count on.  And the ground whelps aren’t much help either.”

Shinx frowns, “I’d honestly rather have you round town anyway Pele.  We three aren’t completely lost yet, but much of the unevolved are having issues with thoughts of going feral, because they might have more success scavenging.  Having an evolved adult around would be nice...as something of a steady ground.”

Ralts sighed, and began to speak, at the same time Pele was starting, “Ok let’s get back on track.”  Ralts looked up to her a moment, then smiles, “Go on you take it I think we were on the same thought line.”

Pele nodded, “We need to discuss the rest of this dungeon.  You said it gets harder as it goes in. None of the enemies so far can stand up to my attacks, but Gleam liked to say there is always someone stronger.  What can we expect, how bad can it get?”

Flint frowned, “We haven't seen a lot of traps yet, those can get nasty.  Already mentioned the teleport trap issue we had. Some can put you to sleep, poison you, confuse you.  All manner of bad effects. I’ve seen one cause pokemon to go crazy and attack everyone around them randomly.  I keep worrying about Shinx, if he leads us into a teleport trap that separates us from him.”   
  
Shinx smirked, “Why do you think he chose me to be the lead?  And why do you think we are using line formation? We’ve already gone around a few traps.”

Flint blinked a bit, “Wait I didn’t see them what do you mean?”

Shinx tailwagged, “I can detect traps if they are in front of me, that’s why I swerve sometimes, I’m going around the trap silly.  We just rarely run this formation because it’s rare for us to have a beefy second in line. We both know we never wanted Gleam or Ralts hit.  Vulpix was also ranged when she joined us. He’d only be willing to do it with me when an evolved was around, but they usually over rode Gleam’s plan.  Pele is the only one to ever let it be done, and that’s mostly because she’s deferring to us as more experienced.” he looked up at Pele, “I’m pretty sure you don’t like me being in the main line of fire, but I’m pulling my weight trust me.”

Pele sighed, “Yeah I don’t like having you in the line of fire like you are Shinx but.” She closes her eyes a moment, “Some of the traps sound more dangerous if I walk on them, so if you’re helping to keep me from randomly attacking others, then you are definitely pulling your weight.” 

The Delphox collected herself, “Ok enough of that, but we’ve got our marching orders still, and that’s enough rest. Let’s grab a bit to eat, or at least get Gleam fed.”  She lightly rubbed his back, then considering how well it went that morning, she went ahead and used what she’s starting to consider the usual method, perhaps the Gleam method, and got him fed and back deep asleep pretty quickly

* * *

Flint frowned and yelped out a bit worriedly, “Crap they’ve started increasing in numbers and we’re getting surrounded.  There is only so much I can do with this wand. It’s about time we started speeding it up, Ralts can you get me out a blowback wand?  Pele can continue to destroy those in front of us but we should start focusing on disabling from the sides, instead of trying to take them out.”

Ralts frowned, pulling out the wand and handing it over, she could feel the increased panic from Shinx and Flint.  She tried to ignore how cold Pele felt emotionally. Pele had pushed most of her emotions down, very little could be felt from her at all.  Kencil could feel some worry, not fear, but worry. Probably worried about them getting hurt. But otherwise Pele was emotionally shut down, she mentioned before she gets into something of a battle mode.  And in the human world she had to kill other pokemon to protect Gleam, so perhaps this shutdown made sense. It still freaked Kencil out though, given the kind caring love the delphox had been giving off outside the dungeon 

Thankfully they were on floor 12, two more floors to go and then this whole mess is over.  She suddenly felt another source of worry, of some kind of deep hidden fear. Anticipation, hope, fear, then started to feel worry and fear from Flint, “Kencil on your left look out!”  She turned to a Scolipede about to hit her, a second later that new source of worry turned to elation as a tornado blew the scolipede away from Ralts, She looked up to see a quite happy looking fennekin looking down to her, then he got back to looking around.  She sighed, completely good idea letting him hold onto a spare wand apparently, she just wished she had noticed him waking up.

* * *

Floor 13 was thankfully fast, they started not too far from the ladder.  But each of them have started to get hit, Pele handled it easily, barely flinched, and she seemed in good health, flint, shinx, and herself seem much less resilient to damage all around, and they finally had to pull the blowback wand away from Gleam.  He gave it up right away as asked, but Kencil felt his mood drop as he lost his only way to turret, and now only thing he could do was be guarded, she tried mentally reminding him that wish was useful, and apparently he could tail whip, but his reply was that actually using moves took a lot out of him, and wondered if they had noticed he’d passed out or not. She wanted to soothe him but definitely not here.

Floor 14, the moment they entered the entire group felt a cold chill.  Something was wrong on this floor, it seemed dimmer, like the air itself was darkened.  It felt tense, and Pele told the group to pause. Kencil felt something familiar a moment, catching a puff of blue fire appearing then disappearing from Pele’s wand, while Pele looked stunned, then shook her head.  “Sorry I thought I saw something I, I think it’s just my imagination.” The ralts wasn’t sure what to make of it, that was a complicated set of emotions that came out.

But along they went, Shinx was doing ok, Flint was nervous and Gleam, she shuddered and Gleam was starting to panic.  No idea why, this floor seemed mostly empty, even if it felt odd and still. Pele also had some odd emotion, a panicky worry she was managing and also pushing down.  She showed none of it outside of her mind. Meanwhile Gleam could be seen visibly shaking, she felt something else from him, he wanted to do something, and finally saw him take in a deep breath mustering up his courage.

“Sh sh sh shinx, I I I hate to knock you o o off your course b but do you th think you c could go down th that tunnel?”  He pointed specifically, and ralts felt quite a bit of dread from the kit, he was heavily worried about that tunnel for some reason.  Flint perked his ears, looking up at the kit, she felt a similar dread from Flint. She wondered what it was that caused this in both of them.

Shinx was happy enough to go down the path until they came to a 4 way stop, a large room opening up somewhat ahead.  Gleam gulped and told Shinx to stop. “I I’m sorry but, I need to make sure of this, please, I’d like Pele and I to break formation for a moment.  We will stay in sight, but I need to make sure of this please.” The other 4 looked to each other, and Pele rubbed her head on Gleams, Pele speaking up, “I trust this should be ok for a short time.  I, I feel like we need to see this. Something on this floor feels odd, and that feeling of worry and dread I’ve had has centered on this floor. There is something else going on, but I’m not sure what it is at the moment, and description wise it sounds, wrong.”  The group nodded permission. And Ralts felt Flint get close to panicking.

She watched the two walk up to the opening of that room, but stopping right before entering the room.  They scanned inside a moment, and at that point she felt Gleam go from panic, to outright horror and fear.  He whispered something to Pele, and she felt worry driving up in Pele, then confusion, then a different kind of worry, before it was as if worried about danger, now it's more like worried about health, and a different emotion, as if a guarded sadness.  They returned and Gleam swallowed, “Ok, Shinx, we are leaving this way, continue to lead, but let me direct the way, dodge traps as normal. Just trust me please.” The group used the 4 way to get properly situated, and Gleam was barking out orders as if from memory.  They managed to barely dodge behind patrols, and a bit ahead the group could see the stairs out. She had to know.

“Gleam how did..how did you navigate those corridors.  These places are mazes, but you seemed to know--”

Flint spoke up gulping, “I, I think I know.  Gleam, the room you and Pele checked out..that was the room wasn’t it?”  Gleam’s ears folded he whimpered a moment more and nodded. Flint shuddered as ralts felt dread come from him, “Ok we’ll make sure to take out anything that can use web, then we’ll rush to the steps.”  Ralts looked to them both.

“What is going on you two.  The emotions you two are feeling are intense, what’s going on.”

Flint whimpered,”This floor, it’s repeating.  This is THAT floor. The room they checked out, that was the monster house room.  There will be a teleport trap in the room ahead, and enemies will come in from both sides.  We don’t move on until all enemies capable of webbing are delt with. Where is the teleport trap Gleam.”  Gleam hiccuped, she saw his eyes glistening from tears, but he pointed it out from memory. The group began moving through, staying well away from the pointed out spot and the promised enemies began pouring in.  Pele began blasting anything arachnid, while Flint and Shinx used blowbacks to make room. Once they were sure the arachnids were gone they started to go by.

Ralts saw a Shiftry make his way in opposite where the teleport trap should be.  Why did she have a bad feeling about this? Now she felt worried, then Flint noticed it, and he yelled out, “Pele Shiftry, take it out!” Pele turned readying an attack, as she fired her mystic fire a whirlwind whizzed right by her..missing her barely, went right past her shoulder.

All at once the group realized what happened, that's a flying move, as Gleam cried out in surprise, the whirlwind caught him.  As he was blown away and landed, the warp trap activated..and in an instant he was gone with a cry, “nooo!”

They all knew what must have happened, they all ran for the room.  Ralts could feel something odd from Pele. An energy from her that felt familiar, one she hasn’t felt in ages and can’t place at the moment.  Pele ran ahead of the group, almost as if she was guided by something. Perfectly replicating the path back to the previous room.

Shinx was giving off some odd feelings worry, missing, sadness, longing, and he acted like he’d seen something, and was following it and Pele.  Flint is passing off the feelings she’d expect from experiencing this scenario again.

They get there and peer into the room, it is as Gleam said last time.  He’s on the far end, in a shallow corridor. Trapped but safe for the moment.  He looked up, shaking his head, “No go without me. L L Leave, stock up on supplies, set a rescue for me.  It isn’t worth it, please.” He was panicking, she didn't need to read his emotions, it was clear enough. Ralts frowned, “You won’t last long enough alone for us to mount such a mission, you know that, you always made saving whelps a priority for a reason.  We can’t just leave you here, we need to come up with a plan. To get you out of there.”

She heard Pele growl, she was watching something then she sighed.  Ralts felt a strong ping of sadness in Pele.

“After the oath you had me make to join here.  After I followed you here, to a land that I know nothing about.  After not having you for months on end. You try to tell me to leave you behind?  Do you not care how I feel? Do you not realize how far I’ve gone to be with you.”

Ralts felt no anger, just sadness from Pele, and something else.  Love.

Gleam just cried out, “I don’t want to lose anymore, please, too many are already gone protecting me, i don’t want to lose you too.”  

Pele called back in response, “Gleam just let me handle this, I’m sure I an get you out of there just hold still and--”

Gleam cut her off in a panic, “No Pele, no, not like Luxray not like Luxray, no!  I won’t let you! You can’t!” Ralts felt him try to stiffen up, summon up some courage, despite his state of panic.  Then she frowned realizing what he was doing as he managed to take up a command voice, “All of you. Leave now and return with a fresh party and supplies.”  Flint and Shinx whined while Ralts tried to fight it, but he still had that ability, of everything he lost, why keep that one. Even she couldn't stop from beginning to move away.  “Gleam!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad as this is a bit of a short chapter. But given the fact that most of the dungeon was a cakewalk. That I personally feel I can’t do well with combat beyond what I’ve done here. At least for dungeon exploration. And the fact they were going methodically I feel I did what I could. I’ll try reading and rereading some other fanfics with dungeon exploration a bigger head and maybe see if I can do a good chapter sometime.
> 
> But yeah I was considering posting this one early due to the shortness of it, allowing the follow up next at the usual time, given I know people will want to hurry and see the rescue attempt.
> 
> Anyway other notes to make.
> 
> Endgame in the main series is different from endgame in the PMD series. I usually finish the main series with characters in the 70s, while pmd they tend to be much lower, and still unevolved. I wanted to display that difference here. Also he was pretty much at the stage of grinding his team to be ready for level 100 battling, literally training them just for battle. And post end game in PMD tends to be rougher than endgame, by a large degree. So yeah take a level 80+ starter and put her in a ‘not really final’ dungeon (as there was at least 1 more after the forest, that became closed once finished) and I imagine this scenario is reasonable.
> 
> I did add a little bit of padding, the whole thing with wish and egg talk, I had removed from a previous chapter because it just didn't make sense. but I wanted it to be known that Gleam had wish..and still had it. It's just one of those char traits to help flesh out someone.
> 
> As for the egg talk. Not so much throwing shade, but making an explanation for something that exists, in the game, to keep it’s G rating. “Your pokemon had this egg, we don’t know how it got there.” And for my faniverse this is the explanation. I’ve used this phrase a few times I’ll use it again. Pokeballs do some interesting things to pokemon when they become captured. I really hope I sometime find the chance to put an explanation in story. I know how I want to explain it, and had the scene in my head. But the story shifts over time to things that make more sense in how they happen.
> 
> Otherwise, this displays one of the issues with turreting, the turret being the main target of flying attacks. And this chapter is where I got my love of having Kencil be the viewpoint character. Turret wise, normally a guest character and especially a whelp could not be a turret. As for Kencil, her insight into other chars, emotional states. Being able to just let her read how others feel, and watching the turmoil of emotions within a char is an interesting viewpoint. I can’t remember if I’ve said this yet, but she’s kind of the counselor of Gleam’s lil exploration team, one of her goals is mental health, which is ironic given some other things about her and other chars.
> 
> I should note next chapter will display a few of the abilities not normally found in pokemon (IE sudden evolving to full evo, then back again..or the dimensional scream). It’s a minor role for now but will pick up some as time goes on. I’ll talk about it more next chapter.
> 
> this is probably a good spot to put this too. One of my tags is PTSD. this mostly applies to Gleam, I'm going to try my best to do PTSD justice. As this story is written with the idea that Gleam has a heavy case of it due to his experiences in the human and pokemon worlds. We'll see how well I can do, especially with the whole whelp thing.
> 
> Anywho that’s enough for now, as usual if you got any comments feel free I love to hear them.


	8. A Trainer’s Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Gleams orders, and the hours that follow.

Pele spoke up, “ **Unevolved, hold your position.** ”  All 3 of them stopped moving.   She stared out to Gleam, tears streaming down softly, “Gleam, what are you doing?  Are you trying to get killed?” 

Gleam perked in surprise his panic rising, his eyes staring, “I said  **go home an--** ”

Pele growled snapping out, “ **Whelp Gleam, you are to stay quiet.** ”  Gleam immediately shut up.  Surprise comming strongly from the whelp.  Panic continueing to rise with worry. And he began to take his only option to salvage things, to make sure no-one else got hurt, beginning to stop into the room.

Pele snapped out quickly again, “ **Whelp Gleam, lay down where you are.** ”  Again his response was instant.   Ralts was surprised, she’s never seen Gleam unable to at least slightly resist a command, but now he’s obeying while she’s speaking.  She then considers how fast she responded to Pele, this wasn’t a guild command, even watching as Gleam starts to cry silently in worry, she realizes whatever the geas, this is coming from a position of her trust in Pele, not just her evolved status or rank.  Gleam and Flint are both higher rank than Pele is, so a guild command shouldn’t work on them, Pele mentioned she learned this by watching Gleam.

“I repeat Gleam, are you trying to kill yourself?  What is this foolishness? I…” Pele sighed, “ **Whelp Gleam, remain where you are, do not move, do not speak, only listen and watch.** ”  Ralts flinched at that set of commands.  On the other end, the emotions from Pele, the amount of heartache from her is large.  Loss, a huge amount of loss, sadness, anger but only a small amount, disappointment, but loss seems to be the dominant feeling in the mon.

“You probably wonder why I didn’t obey you.  I know, you didn’t try to do that as part of the guild.  You tried to do that as my trainer. I love you gleam, I still do.  But our bond as trainer and pokemon, it stopped existing yesterday. It’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about when it came to our relationship.  But beyond that you aren’t fit to be my trainer anymore, despite everything I know and am having come from you. You’ve changed too much. I will still be there for you.  But not as someone who trusts you to be able to command her with a straight head on his shoulders. You’ve let panic overcome your senses. And you just tried to do something you know would get you killed, for what good?  I doubt any of your old core team would have accepted that command, at all.”

Pele stepped into the room, the rest watching wide eyed.  Ralts swallowed as Pele stepped directly into danger. And yet her heart felt more for Gleam.  She felt his heart shatter multi times, but strongest when she denied the trainer bond, the kit exuding longing, if he hadn’t been commanded to stay there silently, she is sure Gleam would be a sobbing wreck trying to run into the room.  But he can’t, her command was strong. All any of them can do at the moment is watch. The trap in the room triggered, teleporting Pele to the middle, all the monsters coming down surrounding her.

Pele sighed, looking at the worry on everyone’s face, though seemed to smile lightly at the ralts.  Ralts felt, mostly disappointment from Pele. Not fear, not worry, just disappointed. Then she was curious, she looked at Taran and Flint, feeling their emotions, both were worried to see a death here.  And she realized, she wasn’t scared for Pele, no she was curious what the pokemon was going to do, it probably helps she can feel Pele’s emotions, “Taran, I am sorry your father fell to this. This is the perfect trap to take out someone who attacks at melee, one at a time, and with electricity.  Please take this as me avenging his death. Gleam of everything I’m disappointed in, it’s this. You’ve completely ignored my fourth move, have you forgotten what it was? Even when you were the one to teach it to me? When you first came here and told me what this room did, I was confused why you were so worried.  I was the one who always dealt with pokemon swarms, of all things you should have remembered that.”

With that said, Pele took a breath and exhaled, a hot steaming wave of air leaving her mouth, permeating the room, as bug pokemon after bug pokemon, and plant pokemon after plant pokemon began to burn wilt and then vanish, the whole room cleared with her attack.  Pele sighed, ”Given the strength of the images in this dungeon, this room was never a death trap, for me. Gleam, remain quiet and wait to be picked up. Unevolved, you may do as you wish, but Kencil it would be appreciated if you picked Gleam up and tended to him.  I would do it myself but something still feels off, so please give me a moment.”

Kencil did just as Pele asked, she walked right over and pick Gleam up.  He remained quiet as Pele commanded. But the look on his face, Kencil wished Pele didn’t need to do it in that way, but the ralts understood finally, the frustration and loss Pele felt. Pele had been frustrated by a trainer who she was supposed to trust to tell her what to do in battle, but he’s been reduced to what she’s currently holding, paralyzed by fear and the past.  Ralts softly snuggled him close, wanting to make him feel better. She looked among the bait on the floor, and spotted a wand, picking it up, another blowback. She offered it to Gleam, and he just turned his head away sadly. Kencil sighed and began filling their bag with everything on the ground, perfect time to restock while big sis did whatever she did.

Upon looking towards Pele she noticed Taran was beside her, he had tears in his eyes.  She rarely saw him cry. And Pele was just finishing, making some kind of large ghostly fire.  Why does that feel familiar to her too? Pele’s emotions were a bit flooded, confusion, pain, a longing for something, and some kind of sense of duty way in the back, as if instinctual or days past.  Pele gave something to Shinx then walked back over to Ralts, “Come on we’re getting out of here. Ralts, Shinx, Flint in that order behind me please.”

Walking back to the exit was with little incident, and they made it back outside.  Finally. She felt Gleam flinch as they left the dungeon and he suddenly had bright light shine down on him.  But he still remained quiet, not even a whimper. Flint looked up to Pele and nodded, walking forward, and he began to lead the way.  Pele must have asked him to lead the group, Shinx seemed pre-occupied with whatever he was given by Pele.

Finally Ralts looked up as she heard in her head, “ _ Pickup warning _ .”  She braced herself and a moment later she and Gleam were lifted up by Pele, Pele sighing, “I can imagine the answer but, how is he holding up?”

Kencil sighed, “Heartbroken, I’m surprised he isn’t crying heavier then he is now.”  She looked down to the kit, “Even if we all felt better about it, he’d be in no shape to walk right now.”

Pele sighed “I dumped on him at once, I knew it’d hurt him, I was wanting to find a better time to do it.”  she sighed deeply, “No I was trying to give him a chance to show me my beloved trainer was still there. But he isn’t, not fully, something about this world ruined him.  I’ve lost my trainer.” She looked down tears in her eyes, nosing Gleam gently, to little reaction, “I’m sorry Gleam, but it had to be said. I still love you, and I will still be here with you.  But our relationship needs to change. I don’t want to lose you again.” Pele considered, “If it helps, you’re allowed to talk and move again, that command was only a heat of the moment thing, and I know commands don’t last that long.  If you’re just trying to be a good whelp you’re overdoing it.”

Within moments Gleam started to whimper, then was crying, wailing out loudly, enough that Flint and Taran turned their head back in surprise, he squirmed in Kencil’s arms, trying to free his forelegs, reaching them towards Pele.  She got the idea and moved Kencil to her shoulder, while she grabbed Gleam into her arms, holding him close while he hid against her. Needless to say the kit was exuding out a strong, extremely strong longing, his worry was gone, fear remained, but above all else he was longing.

Pele closed her eyes, “After all I said, after the pain you suffered from my actions.  The first thing you want to do is be with me again. To be near me and cling to me.” Pele smiled sadly, “I’m sorry it hurt so much, I love you too Gleam.”  Pele looked down to him again, “Though I worry, what all could I ask of you, what would you agree to now, to be with me? How far could I push you, and abuse your pain, and you would go through it just to be with me?”

Pele sighed for a moment, considering things.  “Once we can sit down I’d like to talk longer but, Gleam, let’s face it you’re going to at least need a caretaker.  I doubt I can be anything resembling a mother, unlike whatever Taran insists. But I think I can at least do for you, what you did for me.  Raise you from fennekin to delphox, and maybe help you overcome some of these issues, and if you wish to still explore dungeons, I can help you with combat too, once you are old enough ok?  Maybe we can wind up with a delphox who at least resembles my old trainer?”

Gleam just continued crying until he finally buried his face into Pele’s fur, muffling himself softly.  Pele sighed and Ralts saw her concentrate, and soon enough the two were having a conversation that didn’t really include her.  Kencil just relaxed and snuggled against her big sisters head, relaxing on the shoulder since Pele was willing to carry her, but after a bit was shaken out of her relaxation by mental contact, “ _ Hey sweety, you doing ok?  Gleam mentioned your dad knew a trick and wondered if you had been taught it.  Something about being able to connect multiple minds at once for communication among each other. _ ”

Ralts sent back, “ _ I, can’t quite do it.  I had some of the general ideas shown to me.  But..it’s hard to teach if you can’t do it. You need to find certain centers of communication in each brain, link them to yours..and it’s a weird trick where instead of going into your own center, you create something for information to pass through and--- _ ”   
  
Gleam “ _ See Pele I told you Kencil could teach you how to do it.” _

Kencil paused, stunned a moment, “ _ I didn’t teach her how to do it, I don’t even know how to rightly do it.  I was just explaing a basic idea and--” _

Pele cut in, “ _ This is kind of what I wanted to discuss.  Once Kencil started on it..the idea just clicked into place.  Like I always knew how to do it, but just needed to be reminded about it.  Celebi did quite the number on you Gleam but I think she did something to me too.  I was wanting the expertise of another psychic type, and well, you’re the only one that we have available.  And we are hoping you being raised here might have some idea.” _

Kencil nodded, “ _ Understood, I’m glad to try to talk as fellow psychics….and future psychic.  But first, this is rather fast to be changing subject from earlier.” _

Gleam added in, “ _ I.  I’m not fit for discussing that right now.  We..we are good and, and at an understanding.  But even now I’m threatening to break down just discussing this much.  We, we agreed to wait till either I’ve gone a day without any heavy, emotional issues. Or until I’m ready for it whichever is first.  It’s why I’m not speaking much, just trying to talk could cause..issues again. _ ”

Kencil sighed, heavy remorse from the whelp, “ _ Gleam that’s ok, really.  After everything that happened.  It can be expected for a whelp to need a good cry.  And I have no issues listening to you let it out, especially since it can help calm down your emotional turmoil when all is said and done.” _

Gleam whimpered a little bit into Pele’s fur, “ _ I didn’t even realize I was a whelp till yesterday night.  Please it’s humiliating enough as it is, knowing what all of you saw yesterday, and my actions in the dungeon, and even now.  Let me pretend to have some dignity, please. And not spend most of the walk home wailing at the top of my lungs. My eyes already burn my throat is already sore.” _

_ Kencil considered then sighed, “How about this, tonight, before bed, I get to hold a sobbing little whelp who is letting it all out, just me you and maybe Pele?  In all honesty crying isn’t just for show, Gleam, when you did it yesterday, after you were done you felt, more calm than well, since the loss of Sylveon. Don’t get me wrong, it hurt when Taran broke you, the backlash from that, and from, well, today was strong, but part of why it’s so heavy is you keep holding it back.  You’re going to be a tough whelp to care for if you keep it up, not because you’re naughty, but because you’ll wind up crying and nobody knows why because you’ve held it in too long. Basically I’m more worried about your health, holding everything in isn’t good for you.” _

Gleam let out a whine, “ _ Fine fine, tonight you can have me.  Can we go with what’s worrying Pele now?” _ __   
_   
_ Pele perked as she was pulling out a bluk berry, gently pulling Gleam back enough to feed him something that’ll hopefully soothe his throat __ , “Honestly I was happy listening to Kencil talk with you, if I’m going to be your caretaker her insights into your emotional state is important as well.  And my main worry is about the fact I seem to be primed to do things that I’ve never done before.”

Ralts blushed _ , “Thank you, that reminds me of something else but, what do you mean you seem primed to do things?” _ __   
__   
Pele sighed _ , “Like right now, I never considered how I was talking or listening mentally after I learned how to do it.  But the moment you brought up the communication centers. I just suddenly realized I knew what they were, where to find them, what they were for.  I now know this sidelining trick where I’ve effectively made it so both of your minds pass through mine, and then back into both of yours. And I could do more but that will be a question of practice, not knowledge.  I know how to shut down a center, making it so a pokemon can’t understand anyone.” _ __   
_   
_ _ Pele blinked, “I I know a lot more, a lot more than I’ve mentioned.  Things that would be hard to do for any regular Psychic but.”  _ Pele paused, giving Gleam an affectionate lick __ , “Sorry to bring this up but, I think his training has made me somewhat strong.  It might be a human thing but...now that I think about it. Our team didn’t just take on other strong pokemon.  We took on and defeated legendaries. Some of them even offered to serve as combat pokemon for Gleam he impressed them so.  And that was what..only after a year training me?”

Ralts stopped a moment _ , “Hold on, you two talk like you had been training for awhile, he trained you from fennekin to delphox, that’s years of training.  Not just one.” _

Gleam pulled back blinking, he started to wipe at his own eyes, but Pele handled it while Gleam looked up at Ralts, “ _ Oh right I never discussed this issue, I wonder who will be more surprised. _ ”  Gleam earfolded, “ _ Crap come to think of it you might be holding onto that promise to me longer than you know if I’m like them. _ ”

They both looked at Gleam curiously, “ _ Ok Gleam explain.” _

He shrugged, “ _ Might as well let you both figure it out.  Plus I need to figure out how long it’s been anyway, help me a bit Pele? _ ”  Pele nodded softly to Gleam and waited.

Gleam took an extremely shaky breath and started, ” _ Well, she had been with me as a fennekin before we went off training.”   _ Gleam shuddered, as he accidently brought up older memories, Ralts managing to feel loneliness strong among them and something else, but it was scary, “ _ Sorry remembering before I met Pele _ ,  _ I don’t want to talk about that too much, so don’t pry, please.” _

That got a sigh from Kencil, crossing her arms and staring at him, at that point he knew she was going to want to know, but he continued for now, “ _ But at one point I helped a human who made it his business to study the way humans and pokemon affect one another when bonds are formed.”  _ Gleam looked up at Pele a moment then himself, “ _ Oh geeze he’d have a field day with us now wouldn’t he?  But anyway, he kind of took me in when I did him some favors, he was taking care of Pele, and had reservations about her going to a trainer, I don’t know why.  But anyway Pele kind of grew attached to me, and I enjoyed her company while I helped him.” _ __   
_   
_ Pele perked a moment, “ __ Yeah I remember I was always looking forward to you coming over, I mean I always saw profesor Elder as my father, to be honest.  I don’t really remember much time back then, but I guess I came out of my egg a few months before we met. Something about you was different and, well I just wanted to be with you and make you happy.  Plus you knew right where to scritch and you played with me and everything. On the day he gave me to you, I think I hadn’t seen you for, what felt like forever. I, I made a mess of his office and I think he noticed how unhappy I was otherwise.”

Gleam sighed _ , “Actually he said you were around 3 years old when we met, not recently hatched.  I’d rather not mention why I wasn’t around. But yeah he mentioned you had missed me, and said he’d feel better if I had you.  By that time I had known you for, what, I think 3 years. So he officially gave you to me when I became a---” Gleam went quiet mentally, burying himself back into Pele’s fur. _

Pele gently pet Gleam, closing her eyes with a sigh, “ _ To finish things up, he started his journey soon after.  He had spent those 3 years with me and working for father studying what he could about pokemon.  So given what we both remember I’m 7, or around that now. That’s plenty of time to evolve, actually I was considered a late bloomer.” _

Ralts finally started to send, after overcoming being stunned from what she just heard.  “ _ Pele, you’re seven?   What the, no there is no way you’re 7.  You’re fully evolved, there’s no way---”   _ She paused, taking in a breath, then letting it out, “ _ Pele, I’m the oldest of the un-evolved here.  I am only now drawing close to being old enough to evolve for my first time, as a fellow 2 times evolver.  Pele, I’m 8 years old, I’m older than you are.” _

Pele blinked a moment, her ears twitching, Kencil felt definite confusion from her, the foxes eyes shifted a moment, as if lookin at something far away, for just a second, if the ralts hadn’t been watching her she’d have never seen it.  But she would have always felt the sudden pang of dread, but that also flashed away immediately. The fox shaking her head and finally sending, “ _ I have no idea, we can chalk that up to another world difference, just like the egg thing.  On the other side, I’ll need to remember to not mention how old I am.”  _ She looked down to Gleam, giving him a light bounce hoping to get his attention, “ _ You knew this huh? _ _ Well now I know to be careful talking about before times, whenever we admit you having raised me.” _

Gleam just nodded softly, Ralts looking down with worry at how quiet he’s being mentally now.  The kit’s emotions circling around the pain of loss and guilt. “ _ Gleam, are you ok?” _

Pele shhhhhd softly in the air, “ _ Let him be for now.  He’s quiet about it but I can feel his tears.  He’s just trying to hide the fact he’s crying. So just let him cry it out.  I know exactly what triggered this one. Though now I guess I know what he means about how long it might take to fulfill my promise.  Is he one of you or like me. Given he’s a whelp he’s prob one of you. We need to discuss years sometime.” _

Pele leaned down giving Gleam a loving lick _ , “Because I plan to keep my promise anyway, just a reason to be with you longer and longer my kit.”   _ She eartwitches and sighs with a small smile.  Pele feeling slight amusement, like at a personal joke. “ _ Sorry, I ah I ment Gleam.” _

Ralts looked up curiously at that, tilting her head and questioned mentally, so Pele replied, “ _ It’s, internal feelings things.  I’ve been trying to be polite, but I need to learn to police my sent thoughts better apparently.  A strong part of me thinks of him as my kit. I’m trying to not suggest it right now because, well, right now he’d agree to about anything to be with me, no matter how he felt about it and, well, in reality the parantage thing is awkward between the two of us for other reasons.  Especially given I don’t know his exact age, but I know he’s older than both of us.” _

Ralts frowned, focusing on Gleam a bit, yeah his emotions are spinning a bit, some very childish emotions.  Confusion, wondering, joy, happy, sad. The whelp’s spinning the gamut of them, more than she cares to figure out names for.  But now Pele has her curiously, “ _ Older than both of us?  I wonder how old. At least with him it makes sense, being that old that is.” _

Both of them heard a very mentally quiet “ _ 17”.   _ Then Gleam went quiet once again.

Ralts paused a moment, rubbing her eyes, “ _ My word.  No wonder he knows as much as he does.  If Celebi kept his age, he’d be showing signs of evolving into a Delphox soon and then to be…”   _ Kencil quieted down, now she understood so, so much of the pain he’s feeling from whelphood, the feeling of helplessness.  That’s a lot of years down the drain, a lot of power and ability. Combined with whatever has gone on mentally from everything that happened here.  She really wishes Ms. Shiinotic was around, or Sylveon, both of them were pretty good at healing, mon to mon wise.

Ralts frowned, looking down at Gleam a moment more, “ _ I think I understand things much better.  But, please don’t continue to keep your tears back.  And don’t be afraid to let them show. Sometimes the soothing and calmness you need will come from those who help you calm down.  But I understand your hesitance, I want to say more but, I don’t think you need to hear it right now.” _

Pele perked her ears up softly, “ _ I smell ocean up ahead, so I guess we are close to our ride.  You say we’ll be riding a friendly Lapras back?” _

She looked back to Pele then nodded, “ _ Yeah she’s been around for, I don’t know how long.  Always at the sea, never on land. One of the few not lost, which we are all glad for.  But I get the feeling we only didn’t lose her because she stays at sea only.” _

Pele nodded _ , “I think I should check on the other two, see how they are feeling, Shinx had a rough time in there, as I think he saw what I saw.” _

Pele moved up a bit faster, looking down to the two leading them, a small conversion having developed between the rockruff and shinx and Pele speaking up gently, “Hey you two, I know it was a bit rough in there. Everything all right?”

The two looked up to Pele, nodding, “Yeah we just, Taran was discussing what you did after everything was said and done.  I just saw a fire but you and him-”

Pele sighed, “I hadn’t mentioned that to these two yet.  We’ve been, letting Gleam calm some, and keep getting distracted from another topic.  Which yeah, what happened in there is related, so I might as well just mention it to all of you at once.”

“I’m not quite sure what all happened, but I think Celebi did something to me as well when we came here.  Mentally I mean. I keep picking up on concepts and ideas from this world as if I’ve always known about them, and just need to be reminded of them.  I guess she wanted me to blend in more easily. But it’s getting bothersome, which brings me to that final floor.”

Pele gave pause, collecting her thoughts, “That floor, it wasn’t the source of my dread, but it was a center of dread and worry.  It was adding to my feelings. Something about the idea of dungeons still freak me out. But the moment I got there, I felt that still air, and felt the darkness in the area...I suddenly remembered how to do something else, and did it almost instinctively, as it felt important.  Remember when I said I thought I saw something? From that time on I’d see a troop of 4 on the same floor, we occasionally crossed ways with them. But I recognized Fulger and Calad among them, as well as Flint and what I assume was a much older Gleam.”

Ralts definately looked up with interest now, why does this sound familiar, they just lived a copy of the floor, and Pele watched what happened on the original floor?  She could even see Gleam having looked up.

Pele scritched Gleam while she had the chance, “Of the four Fulger looked more real to me, like he was there, and the others were just being shown.  We synced up on the final room. Sorta, Fulger’s group went in earlier than us, and I saw Gleam get webbed and pulled away, while the group stood stunned.  And you were not kidding about the floor being a repeat, the exact same bug was there, so I got rid of him. Figuring the danger was over.”

She sighed, “Obviously not when we lost Gleam, Fulger’s group finally had a decision and the luxray shot off searching for Gleam.  I mostly followed him to the monster house, at that point I think he was leading me, and not replaying his old steps.”

Taran spoke up, “I started seeing dad then, I saw him racing ahead, leading us.”  he earfolded, “I saw him talk with Gleam. I saw events as Gleam said earlier unfold.  Including Gleam being commanded to run, and the promise he made Gleam take.” The cub looked up to Gleam, who’s ears fall but he nodded back at.

Pele nodded, “I won’t repeat beyond that since we already heard it once.  But Fulger’s likeness still lingered there. That’s what I went to handle and Taran was joining me.”  She sighed, “I still can’t explain exactly what I did, but more knowledge unlocked, Fulger was still there, trapped.  But somehow I knew how to free his spirit, which is what I went to do, he knew he’d be trapped when he died. He was waiting, waiting for me and Taran.  He spoke with me as if he knew me, though got my name wrong. Thanked me for the revenge I offered, and asked me to wait till he spoke with Taran.”

The Shinx nodded, sniffing a little bit, “I got to say goodbye, and he said goodbye to me.”  He wiped away a tear, “He told me to also watch after and follow Gleam, that as a future guardian it’s important I learn from him what I can.”  The shinx sighed, “I I had thought those were just stories.” he shook his head quickly, “Anyway Pele continue, is your story.”   
  
She nodded gently, “Once they were done I, sent Fulger on to where he belonged.  Giving Taran what was left behind, it’s, hard to explain. But his essence fused with it, and I felt that might be best for Taran to have.  I think he can still be talked with using it.”

She sighed, “He referred to me as the Spirit Talker Guardian, whatever that is, though even now the title sounds familiar, how about any of you.”

Shinx looked up a moment, “Dad sometimes belabored the loss of our spirit talker, as well as the future one.”

Ralts blinked, “I’d sometimes hear mom refer to herself as a spirit talker.”

Pele nodded, “Maybe it’s another delphox thing.  Which I wanted to speak with you about, the other part is, maybe I have some knowledge about how to mother locked away as well.  Like how I soothed your horn. And though I hate to remind you of it too much, being told of anything she could do might remind me of how to do it.  It’d be another way to help Gleam.”

Gleam suddenly perked up looking ahead and raised a paw, “Lapras!” He called out, breaking the deep thought the group had gotten into, he looked at them speaking softly, “This is something we might want to keep to ourselves.  I, I had heard the guardian thing before, spoken in secret, and it might be secret for a reason, so in private or mind to mind later? Anyway, Flint did you contact Vulpix?”

Gleam giggled as he heard Lapras call back, not giving any time for response, “Did I hear Gleam?  Welcome back! Though where are ya, did you evolve to a delphox!?”

Gleam blushed, ears folding with a shy whine then sighed calling back, “No sadly.  Lapras...we need you to break one of your rules. I had a bit of an issue with Celebi, and at this point I’m still trying to figure out if I was being punished or rewarded.”

Lapras hmmed, “Break one of my rules?  Better have a pretty good reason, Get over here so we can stop yelling.”

The rest looked to Gleam a bit, he shrugged and blushed, “Sorry was excited to see Lapras, and right now I’d like to take my mind off things.  And I felt it fair to warn her we need a rule broken.”

Pele looked down curiously, “which one would that be?”

Gleam blushed then sighs, “She doesn’t normally carry whelps.  It shouldn’t be a hard convince, given she knows me, and that there really isn’t a safe place to live here.  But normally---” Gleam perked as they got close enough for Lapras to see.

Lapras, “Hey now Ms. Delphox, look we don’t normally take whelps on this.  I’ve had too many issues with them not respecting rules and causing trouble, what if your lil kit ru---”  Lapras paused and stared a moment, “Wait a second, Gleam?”

Gleam blushed heavily but slowly nodded, “Y yeah I I need to get home.  I told you runin with Celebi..” He looked aside a bit, “If it’s any consolation it’s close to time for me to nap, so I’ll spend most of the trip asleep.”

Lapras looked on a moment more then frowned, “Sorry little guy, I didn’t realize at first.  No you’re fine. Go ahead and climb aboard.” She looked to Flint, Ralts, and Taran, “This your escort mission?”  They nodded, “It’ll be good to see him round again, though a touch small there. Don’t see much dungeoning in his future.”  Gleam sat up at that and rapidly shook his head as a response. Lapras smiled warmly, “Smart boy.”

Ralts frowned a moment, she felt panic, pure panic, at the mention of him dungeoning.  While good for him to worry as a whelp, she really hopes that won’t last as he grows. That level of panic over dungeons just isn’t healthy.

Gleam peeked around at the ocean and huddled close in Pele’s arms, “I I’ll be ok being h held for now.”  He gave off more worry and panic. And now Ralts was really starting to worry for him, she’s realized he’s now thinking about how he treated whelps, how he knew what wasn’t safe for them, or worried when in danger, and now he’s applying that to himself, worrying from the other end.  She’s going to need to find a way to calm that.

Flint started fiddling with his badge once everybody had settled in and soon had Vulpix up on it.

Vulpix, “Rockruff!  There you are, I’ve been waiting for you to respond.  I was starting to get worried there. What’s your status?”

“We’re doing ok, everybody is alive and relatively unhurt.  We have boarded Lapras, we would have contacted earlier, but, some heavy stuff happened in the dungeon and all of us were dealing with it while we walked.”

In a moment everyone’s badges were beeping, Gleam looked up at Pele, and after a moment he mentally helped her get through how to open this new badge mode.

Vulpix giggles, “I know this can usually get messy when trying to talk like this, but I should be alone, as long as a certain whelp finally went to sleep, and it sounds like we need to talk for a little bit, at the least.  So opening all lines sounded like the better idea.”

Flint sighed, “Well enough, for Delphox’s information we’re in.”  he perked as she contacted him mentally, “Ah right Fennekin already filled you in ok.”

A soft, young, voice came over the air, Ralts knowing who it was right away, did Vulpix do this on purpose she wonders, “Fennekin?  Fennekin on badge?” And there comes the excitement, “Gleam?! Is Gleam back?!”

She looked at Gleam, who at that moment had a curious mix of emotions, and was starting to look droopy eyed, though he perked up quickly hearing that voice.  At least one of the emotions he felt was joy, he did always like that whelp. Though he still seemed unsure, he sat up, “Hey Shii, yeah I’m back.”

“Gleam!  Gleam’s back.  I missed you lots Gleam!  Mom, Dad, gone, and you were gone, but now you’re back.  Yaay!”

Gleam faltered his face fell and he winced, Ralts felt pangs of guilt from the fox, he took a shaky breath and continued on though, a tear in his eye, “Yes Shii I’m back, to stay I think.”

Vulpix sighed, “It’ll take forever to get Shii down now, when did you sneak in here anyway?  I thought I had put you back into bed.” All that came over the badge after that was Shii giggling.

Gleam started up again, “She can talk for a little bit, but I’ll help get her to---”  He yawned widely, Ralts isn’t sure if he’s calculating or if he’s just that tired, “Sorry that was a trying dungeon and I’m tired myself, was planning to catch a nap on the ride home.”

Shii spoke over, “Gleam nap?  Gleam never naps? Why gleam napping?”

Gleam looked to the rest, putting a paw up to his muzzle, his best to do the quiet sign, “Well Shii, I’d rather not explain it all, but before I returned I met Celebi, heeeee, he played quite a trick on me.  I need to sleep a bit more than before. On the plus side if I sleep on the ride over, I’ll wake up to being home, and if you sleep soon, and sleep fully, you can wake up to me being home.”

Shii giggled, “Uuh that does sound good, will Gleam have time play?  Or he gonna be doing dungeons all day.”

Gleam frowned and visibly shivered, but replied,”I, I don’t think I’ll be doing dungeons for quite awhile, but I think Vulpix and Rockruff is planning something of a party for me tonight when I get there, as a return party and to introduce a new member, Delphox.”

“Wassa Delphox?”

Gleam looked up, “One moment.”  Then back to his badge, “Delphox’s are..kind of what I evolve into once fully evolved.  Remember I’ll evolve twice?”

Shii “Ooooohhhh, Can Delphox hear me?”

Pele finally spoke up, “Hello, there, this is Delphox.”

“You sound nice, you came here with Gleam, an an you’re an adult?” 

Delphox smiled warmly, “Yes sweety I’m an adult.”

There was a long pause over the badge, Gleam seemed to be waiting for something, then looked up to Pele and signaled her, she tilted her head and he nodded with a sigh.

Shii finally came back over the radio, “A a aare you Gleam’s mama?”  Gleam didn’t even seem surprised he just sighed and slumped, a moment later Pele answers, “Yes sweety.” Oddly Gleam didn’t look surprised at that, must be why he wanted her attention, then his ears started to perk and he gulped as Pele continued, “Gleam is a little bit shy about what, Celebi did to him, so he isn’t speaking too much on it.  But right now he’ll need his mother back to be with him, instead of being without one like he was last time.” Gleam was just blushing nicely.

Shii giggles, “Aww, is nice he’ll have his mama, sounds like Celebi did something real mean to him though.”

Vulpix finally spoke up, “Ok as cute as that is I’d like to catch up our guild leader on what the rest of the guild has been doing, actually now that I think about it, technically guild leaders, we’ll need to discuss that later Gleam.  We’ve had a few make their way back already, as per your instructions, everyone was sent out on simple quick runs, thankfully no emergency ones today. So pretty much pure resource gathering. Once we got over what exactly your reason for being so short for today was near everyone was sent on food runs.  Rattata did the usual rotation for those at home, Eevee seemed overly tired from watching the whelps so Rattata decided that’d be my job for today. Which is why Shii is here with me. I was using a side room to gather information from the rest.”

Flint answered back, “Good good, and yeah sounds like you guessed the right reason.  I figured we could afford a little party with the return of our main teams other founder.  Though I didn’t consider sending out more food teams as a possible idea, we still need some reinforcements on walls and such, none of us can really quarry too well, or take down trees in a fast enough time.”

Vulpix ughed, “it’s just for one day, and if we get enough leftovers that’s less stock runs we’ll need to do tomorrow.  Anyway I also sent out two teams to the changing dungeons for the new supplies, Gleam I’ve got you some good news and some bad news.”

Gleam groaned softly, “Dare I even ask, fine what’s the bad news?”

Vulpix giggled over the badges joyfully, “It’s honestly all the same news, not only was there a bounty of gummi’s in those dungeons.  Both teams having filled their bags with them. There was also a total of 7 red gummies found.”

Shii could be heard in the background, “Why would that news affect Gleam?”  Vulpix paused, then answered truthfully, “Red ones are fire typed. Just like Gleam.”

Shii spoke up again,”Yeah but Gleam doesn’t eat gummies.  Says they are special food just for whelps.” Vulpix sighed, “Hey Little fluff you want to tell her or what?”  Gleam frowned, “If we don’t tell her she’ll be too busy trying to figure it out to sleep well. If we do tell her..well..”  Gleam sighed, “Shii, please remember if you get a full nap you’ll see me faster cause you’ll wake up to see me ok?”

Shiii spoke up, “Uh huh, so why are gummi’s so important.”  Gleam frowned, “It’s the trick Celebi did to me, one of Celebi’s specialities is time.  And, well, I’m not as old as I on--” “You’re a whelp too now?!”  Shii shouted out then quieted a moment then spoke again, “Oh that’s why you need your mama, uh huh, I miss my mama lots wish she was here.  Ms. Delphox, Ms. Delphox can I have a playdate with Gleam sometime, pleeaassee?”

Gleam for his part just started to blush strongly while Pele giggled a bit, “We can talk about that later, I think some friends his age to play with might be a good idea.  He’s going to have a busy night tonight, but maybe you two can play somelater. But why don’t you started getting ready to lay down, I know you must be tired, Gleam has been yawning up a storm, and is already wearing his blanket, so shouldn’t you be too?”

Shii giggled, “Yes Ms. Delphox.”

Gleam sighed and spoke up, “I suppose I can’t talk you out of having me be fed one.”  he earfolds, “but Delphox is right I need to sleep, just, a favor please, Sherry. Take it easy with the attention on me, I really just want to be alone lately, and a big party might be a bit much.  But I’m going to try to sleep now, my attention is, thankfully, not needed at the moment.” 

Vulpix answer back lightly, “Oh geeze Gleam, I’m sorry, I’ll see what can be done.”  She could be heard sighing, “I don’t want to wind up with an upset whelp as the center of the party.”

Delphox picked up, “He’d answer but he honestly just curled up in my arms to sleep.” She looked down at the lil fox in arms.  “So you suddenly changed your tone there.” 

Sherry spoke up, “He used my real name, he only does that when he wants to be more serious.  If your still awake Gleam, I'll try to make sure the rest know about Celebi doing something to you, and that you're not too comfortable with it at the moment.  But I'm sure more than a few will be excited over your return. And trust me I'm not the only one who will jump at the chance to take care of you. You've got a lot of friends who care for your well-being.  Now sleep well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So honestly I wonder how many might have realized Pele not only could disobey an order, but could issue her own orders to make all of this stop. I hadn’t mentioned the inability to command guild leaders before, because it would be misleading. And why it was introduced here as her breaking an un-announced rule. I wanted the clues seeded about that she could stop it.
> 
> Again as I said last time, Pele is high level, and purposefully made sure her 4’th move was never mentioned, but again this is a reasonable answer to the monster house problem. Heat Wave, boom, technically it should have missed a few critters, but given pele’s range, it would have been easy to clean up.
> 
> Otherwise this chapter starts a more proper introduction of “abilities not found normally in pokemon”. Again most PMD games have this kind of stuff, in my case I’m giving it to a non-protag (well unless you count Pele). Well multiple non-protags. But I’m making sure they receive it for a reason, that involves the island lore. I don’t wish to say much more as that’d spoil future stuff but I will say this, the abilities being shown will always be only able to work on this specific set of islands (and other ‘border towns’..which will never appear in these stories, or shouldn’t anyway).
> 
> As for Shii, two things. One I named before I looked up the name of her evolution. The other is that despite her youth she's decently insightful.
> 
> And otherwise, we got to play more in the game of, lets hurt Gleam,yay (boo).
> 
> I’m trying to balance the next few chapters best I can, but one issue I’m having is Gleam is turning out very much..in need of emotional support after this. Again i write ahead a bit, he’s only started to be fussy. He’s an interesting write due to the fact his rational brain and emotional needs conflict, and due to multiple factors he can have problems pushing back his emotional needs. Which lets face it..that kind of needed to happen, but this winds up with him being a ticking emotional timebomb.
> 
> For the sake of it he did start his pokemon journey late, as 16 is late game terms. I figure the 1 year is honestly slow given the speed the games usually go. Otherwise yes, 17, reduced to the body of what is effectively an infant of the pokemon world. No wonder he doesn’t enjoy this second chance at being a kid again. On the other side, he started off this story broken..and just got smashed a bits in the dungeon, he might need that reset in life.
> 
> Finally, yes, Pele did effectively copy Gleam’s use of trainer’s command, in order to command all 4 of them. Given that the games indicate it is built on how much your mons trust you (and gym badges <.<), this might say something about why Pele was able to command Gleam. Also I made allusions to it earlier when Pele first became part of the guild, and the guild command ability was mentioned. But being inducted into a guild has some similarities with being captured by a pokeball, but it's far far far removed. But this allows those who can properly act as Trainers (or human trainers turned pokemon) to be able to use trainer commands on other guild members.
> 
> As for one final bit on Gleam. There is a series of tropes known at “The Cutie”, “The Woobie”, and “Break the Cutie”. While one is supposed to feel sorry for Gleam, and he’s winding up becomming decently cute, I don’t plan for him to really ever be purely cute. Which can make issues with the plotline, I wouldn’t mind doing a relaxing ‘this is the sort of stuff that happens every day with Gleam’. But that would honestly wind up being fluff in a fluffy storyline, which is odd as heck..but the idea of writing it out just sounds fun.
> 
> Anyway most of this is to say I don’t plan to overly ‘break’ gleam much more. Beyond helping to create epiphanies of ‘it isn’t your fault’. So if you feel bad for seeing gleam getting hurt repeatedly, from now on most of it will be you seeing/hearing what happened to him in the past. So no new trauma to him...just the audience getting to see what the heck happened to him.


	9. The Ride Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew meets a bump along the way with Flint, but they get home, and decide to relax in Rockruff’s hiding place before meeting everyone proper, giving Pele time to reflect and share her grievances about her role in Gleam’s Life.

Vulpix shook her head as she came back from checking on Shii.  How could a morelull get into so much trouble she wondered. And yet she was extremely energetic and active, honestly one of the healthiest whelps of the bunch right now.  Which, when she thinks about it, is a good thing given what her father told her of the whelps importance. Perhaps her health and overall strength is a sign of a humans interference, she knows Bella heavily encouraged Gleam to interact with Shii.  To the point Shii sees Gleam more as a brother than anything. Well she better get back to the others, she desperately wants to know more about what went on, and how safe the others are. She’s going to need to let Flint in on the truth sometimes, with him being Guild leader.  He took two of the other guardian un-evolved left on a dangerous mission and none of them even realized it.

She walked back from Shii’s room and to her little commondered headquarters.  And just heard a bit of general chatting going on.

“And yeah that’s kind of how we defeated that gym leader.  Ok seriously, Gleam seems to act like it’s a secret he’s human.  But every single one of you so far know it, even you know it Lapras and to my knowledge you aren’t even in the exploration team.”  Delphox exasperated. 

Vulpix smiled a bit, “If I had to guess Flint purposefully chose not only those good at dungeoneering, but also those who already knew.  If it is any consolation the only other one who I think knows is Eevee, at least if he doesn’t know he suspects something is up. I was rarely around when those two hung out, since Eevee isn’t part of Terraflare.  But when I’ve spoken to Eevee alone he’s said some things that hint he might know, I’m not sure if it’s just chance, or if he’s trying to find others who know.” She considered offering a few of the evolved knew as well, but then she’d need to talk about Guardians.  Lapras would be safe to do it in front of, but Delphox and Flint, they don’t need to know really. Well Delphox doesn’t, anyway.

Ralts spoke up, “Good to hear you’re back Vulpix.  Did Shii really just go to bed on her own? She usually refuses, wants a song, or to play, or something.”

Vulpix giggled a moment, “Yeah amazingly she happily climbed into bed, let me tuck her in, and is doing her best to sleep.  I did my best to sing to her a little bit, to help her calm down. But I guess she really wants to see Gleam, either that or you delphoxes can work magic, since you’re the one who told her to sleep, Ms. Delphox.”

Delphox giggled lightly over the badge, “Honestly I have no idea.  I just followed Gleam’s lead, and helped use the fact he was going to sleep as well to lead her along.”

Vulpix sighed, “Well you two did a good job then.  She’s notoriously tough to put down, only her parents and Gleam had a good knack for it.  Full of energy and pep now, which honestly is in part thanks to Gleam. When Gleam first came here, Rockruff found him half drowned clutching a log.  Shii’s family managed healing him, and in general took him in for a short time. Helping him get better and helping him with his amnesia as they could.  In return I know Gleam tried to do what he could to repay the favor, becoming something of a big brother figure to Shii. And really he got pushed into the guild and formed a team with Rockruff because he was trying to get Shii better nutrition.  I know my dad and a few others leaned on Bisharp once Gleam started to go into gummi dungeons on his own, to bring back what gummi’s he could muster for her.”

Delphox sighed over the badges, “Yeah, that sounds like the Gleam I know, and the one I sometimes can see bits and pieces of in the little whelp I have with me.  But so much happened here, he’s changed greatly from the brave human I once knew. Well I’ve already promised him I’ll do my best to help him become that again. But…”  She could be heard sighing over the badge, “I need to know more about what happened to him over here. I already know the incident with Fulger did a number on him. And my rashness to get him to calm in the dungeon probably didn’t help at all.  In my defense I was frustrated, but I know I went overboard”

Vulpix perked, incident with Fulger?  What Pele did to calm Gleam down? Ok they mentioned some heavy stuff happened, “Ok I can get behind helping Gleam.  Definately I can get behind that. But he seemed pretty ok on my side. Though I wasn’t part of the core group, admittedly it took awhile for me to gain some, interest in Gleam.  He always seemed pretty stable from what I saw.

Flint spoke up next, “You often made fun of me for wanting to sleep close to Gleam.  That I needed him like that to help me sleep. Ok truthfully I do always enjoy sleeping next to others but, I was lying about needing to do it to help me sleep.  I do sleep alone in our guild room now after all. In truth I did it to convince Gleam to have someone with him, when he first started to remember who he was, it wasn’t too bad.  He’d sometimes wake up suddenly, startled, but then go back to sleep. Or sometimes we’d spend a bit of time talking about the human world.”

Flint sighed heavily, “Then whatever happened with Sylveon happened.  None of us still know the truth of that. And he’d wake up in tears, or shaking and terrified.  I eventually tried waiting till he went to sleep and snuggled in next to him, hoping a bit of bodily comfort would help.  And it did. He still had some issues, but they weren’t as bad. With that said, it still got worse and worse. And while I can tell you what points they happened, I can’t tell you what happened.”

Vulpix perked, “The loss of Sylveon affected him so badly?  And at certain points it spiked?”

“I can’t be too tactful on this but. Your dad was another.  Another mystery we have. And he actually just wasn’t the same after Bella and Cray’s death.  I know he loved them greatly. And yet again none of us know what happened. As Delphox said, Fulger’s death has had an obvious effect on him as well.  And now that I think about it, Calad” Flint took in a deep shakey breath, “Ahh Calad, h his loss h h hasn’t been well for me, p probably not for him either.”

Vulpix perked, “You ah..you never speak of that time..willingly, Flint what’s up?  And, all those others affected him as well, huh they’re all..” She quieted down mumbling the last bit, realizing she didn’t want to reveal that all 5 of those pokemon were Guardians, that can’t be a coincidence.  What she’d give for the lost guardian, dad said she was a last fallback in case something like this happened and could somewhat fill in other guardian roles, as well as help teach the new guardians. She also wished she was old enough to fulfill her own role, but she’s far too young sadly.

Flint sighed, sniffing a little bit, “Y, you should see Gleam.  I, I think I see what k keeping it to myself for too long can do, b but I still need t time to talk about all of it.”

Vulpix perked, she had already guessed Gleam was a whelp, what else could they be talking about.  “I, I think I’ll take your word for it. How about this, let him deliver the quest information to me, that’d be a way to get started.  But so far I haven't heard too much, a few nightmares and such.”

Delphox was heard next, “Trust me, you haven't even heard half of it.  Some things were kind of bad before he came to this world, but then got a lot worse when he came back from here.  As an example, never, and I mean, never ever mention the move explosion to him. Before he’d go quiet now...now...oh geeze those ruins his re--”  Pele suddenly cut herself off, “Flint? Flint? Are you ok? Oh crap you were there too. Flint, Flint“   
  
Suddenly Vulpix heard everyone else yelling out Flints name, before she heard Shinx, who had been unusually quiet, “Command him to stop.”

Then she heard one of the strongest command voices she’d ever heard used, “Flint, Lay down.  Flint, Stay still.” Her voice returned to normals “He’s still panicking though, does anyone know a move to put someone to sleep or anything?”

“Celo, Pa says you’ve probably been taught a few powers that affect pokemon. At least one of them should be able to calm, he only hopes this can trigger your remembrance.  Reach beyond the flame, past the mind, there’s another well of power yo---”   
  
The delphox again, her voice sounding different almost birdlike, no, a second voice is over the first, “Shush my little rockruff.  Mama Pele’s got you. Quiet my little rocktwig. Rest those eyes of yours.”

There was a pause...Ralts asking, “did it work?”

Delphox, stunned, her voice is full of surprise, “I...I.”  A long pause, “Vulpix I think you understand we just had an issue.  I can tell you one rather ugly thing Flint and Gleam saw.” She sighed deeply, “I can also tell you how many of the evolved probably died.  Whatever all of you were fighting could control other pokemon, I’ve come to understand that to a degree. I have once, once, seen explosion done by a pokemon who was too weak to survive it.  That pokemon did it gladly to save Gleam, and disobeyed a trainer command to do so. Gleam still hated the move since then. And I can tell you it looks like an ugly way to go, it is not pretty watch a pokemon literally explode.  To see, pieces, go flying like that.”

The Delphox took another breath, “Beyond the Dusk Forest is a set of ruins.  Calad’s resting place if I had to guess. They had holes blasted in the buildings and on the ground.  I hadn’t figured what. But when Gleam saw it, he ran, he hid. He was scared. His final thing was to beg and plead someone to not make “them” do something...and cry in horror as apparently they did it anyway.  You’re rules here are different, I’m learning that. But I’m willing to bet that somehow teaching a pokemon that should never learn it explosion, causes the attack to end in a similar horrible fashion. And Gleam and Rockruff both probably watched most of the town’s pokemon end their life that way.”

She let out her held breath then sighed, “I think you understand, I’m shutting off communication.  We have things to talk about on this side. And I’d rather do it mentally to not risk waking anyone up.  You plan to do a party when we get home, if your plan involves anything that explodes in any way possible, take it out of planning.  I’ll contact you when we get home, this is Delphox Pele, out.”

Vulpix gulped, she felt bad for Flint, she understood that.  But no her mind reeled instead over this Delphox and Taran. Taran mentioned his pa told him to suggest that, how could Fulger have suggested that to him?  But what really got her was Celo? No her name in the registry is Pele, and she called herself Pele, but she has already learned and earned commanding voice, and that was a powerful one.  But no, Pele just used sing. And yet she didn’t. Some birdlike pokemon used it with her, for her? This is not a normal Delphox power, she copied another pokemon’s move somehow, used it like one of them.  Who is Pele. And why is the name Celo so familiar? Having Gleam back is a prize, but it feels like Pele is quite a prize as well...

* * *

 

Pele quietly pet Flint and Gleam.  Flint down in her lap, Gleam in the crook of her arm.  She then looked up, staring at one of her old battle group, when she was a braixen, sitting on her shoulder.  Of course the swablue wasn’t really there. Well that’s wrong too, her spirit was here. Ralts and Shinx were both looking on in surprise.  Lapras for her part was largely ignoring things, not so much taking it in stride as just pretending nothing happened.

Pele sighed, “Astella, it’s been awhile.  And once again your singing gets me out of a pinch.  Thank you my old friend. It is good to see you again.  Though looks like I can’t hold you around for long. I’d like to just talk with you later ok?”  The swablue nodded to her then burned away into blue fire.

She looked to shinx, “You were talking with Fulger?  What did I just do? What was that, it was useful. And I’m glad it was like Astella was watching for a chance to help.  But what did I just do there. Does Fulger say?”

Shinx let his ears fall, “Sorry Pa went quiet when you summoned, you said Astella?  I think he was piggybacking off whatever let you do that, to talk with me. But looks like you’ve expended it for now?  He was, telling me more about what he was..and what..I’m apparently next in line for. Then the thing with Flint happened.”

Delphox sighed, “Well enough..and now I know how to repeat the trick.  It’s..different from when we viewed Fulger, this felt like I found someone..and brought them to me.  Plus all of you saw it.” She paused, and mentally linked herself with Kencil and Taran, “ _ Let me make good on what I told Vulpix.  Little sis are you ok?” _

Kencil perked, her mental voice soft, “ _ I sorry I just.  The energy you used, everything you just did.  It reminds me greatly of mama. And..and what did you call her Taran?” _

Taran frowns, “ _ I I’m not sure, I just copied what pa said.  I’m just glad you managed to stop him before he jumped into the water.  He isn’t a good swimmer.” _

Pele nodded, “ _ Agreed.  I’m going to need to get used to this whole command thing.  But I’d like to not be around panicking cubs that often, yaknow?”  _

Pele sighed and thought _ , “Able to see and apparently make use of spirits.  And some spirits from here recognizing me but calling me a different name, multiple bits of knowledge locked in my brain that I just need to be reminded exists.  And apparently Fulger knows some of the abilities I have locked away in my knowledge. Ok I’m whatever this spirit talker is fine. Either Celebi did something extremely odd with me, or Delphox’s have very interesting roles.  Makes me wonder what other mon can do differently here. I’m wondering if she changed me just enough to look like someone else.” _

Kencil considers _ , “I spose that could be why you remind me of Mama so much.  Though if Celebi just replace her with you I...I’d hate that.” _

Pele eartwitched _ , “I know lil sis, I don’t want to just replace other mon, fill the hole they left, sure, but replace them no, anyway.”  She turned her attention to the shinx, “Ok Taran, I’ve let you be quiet long enough. When we were first discussing things, I didn’t know exactly what you might know.  But I saw Fulger’s death. I heard what he said to Gleam. And I heard him talk to you before I sent him to rest. Can you stop hiding what you know, and add in to this conversation?  And stop doubting what you know.” _

Kencil looked up _ , “Wait what?”   _ She looked over to Taran.

Taran ear folded, “ _ I’ll give what I can.  I just, he told me to keep quiet but, it seems too much is known.  I I also just didn’t believe before about this whole human thing, it’s just stories pa would tell me.  But, both of you know, Gleam was human. I don’t understand it all, but pa said humans are special mon.  And Legendaries bring them to our world for a special purpose every so often. Pa said if I ever met a human, even if they used to be human and were now pokemon, to trust and follow them.  Pa made Gleam promise to train me before he died. Pa said it’s important as a Guardian that I be trained by a human. It’s something all guardian’s require to reach full potential. Pa said he was human trained, though the human left after training them.” _

The shinx eartwitches _ , “But also that’s why I’m confused.  Pele, I can always tell by smell family.  I honestly thought Celebi had just made him little, he does smell like your child.  You two smell closely related. Pa said that was a guardian power I picked up. But he didn’t teach me a lot, he said there are supposed to be 6 guardians in all.  And their powers only work on these islands. He said we lost the spirit guardian, and the future spirit guardian sometime back, when I was a whelp. I guess Ms. Delphox and her daughter?  But there are 4 more beside me and you Ms. Pele. But all of them need Gleam better..to help train them.” _

Shinx sighs _ , “Thank you for giving me Pa back by the way.  I did miss him, and now we can at least talk again.  He said he’ll teach me what guardian stuff he can. But it takes a fully evolved adult to make full use of em, and I’m far from that.  An he said guardians are important for the island. The island guards the rest of the pokemon world, we guard and empower the island. Apparently our issues with rebuilding the base also has something to do with the loss of the Guardians.  He said you could help some, but didn’t say how yet.” _

Pele sighed, “ _ That’s a lot.  Also he apparently knew Gleam was human, since he told Gleam directly to be your trainer.  I now wonder how many other evolved knew, might they be the other guardians? This is a headache.  I’ll, I’ll think about this guardian stuff later. Right now I should focus more on getting Gleam healthy, since he’s important for this as well.  And it’s something I’d rather focus on anyway.” _

_ Shinx looked over curiously, “How are those two doing?  I think they both needed that nap.” _

Pele looked down over the whelp and cub she held, _ “Both seem to be sleeping soundly, though I’m never sure how soundly the move sing makes one sleep.  And this whole thing with Gleam letting me claim to be his mother. I..”  _ She closed her eyes _ , “I wanted it so badly, but I wanted it on his terms.  He just said it’d be easier to explain to Shii. And it’ll make more sense to the rest of the island without needing to reveal the whole human thing.” _

_ “I wanted him to get better from the pain I caused him first.  He’s so vulnerable he’ll cling to anything to keep me, including deciding rashly to be my whelp.  I I’m going to try to not take it personally but, I want it so badly.” _

Kencil put her hand on Pele’s leg _ , “There is only so much I can say.  Trust me I can feel that. Let’s see if we can get into mom’s old home, maybe having him in there will help you come to peace at least.” _

Pele looked up _ , “I see land ahead, I suppose we draw near our destination?” _

* * *

Gleam found himself slowly waking up, not from being licked or anything.  But he instead felt a soft buzzing from his psychic organs. He opened his eyes a little bit.  Taran, Kencil, and Pele all were lost in their heads, he guesses their doing a 3 way messaging again, given how strong the buzzing was.  He really wishes the buzzing was more soothing than it is, wouldn’t mind being lulled to sleep from gentle buzzing instead, at least it isn’t annoying.

He looked down and saw Flint asleep in Pele’s lap, a few tear streaks on the pup.  He wonders what happened there. But assumes the telepathic communication was in hopes of not waking up himself or Flint.  He sighed, he’s going to need to share his little secret. Just so they don’t overly wake him up when he’s a whelp, when they are trying to let him sleep.  He’d hate to wake up cranky and make a fuss accidentally. Even if he liked his little secret of knowing when a telepathic conversation was going on. He wondered what all they were talking about.  Pele’s head moved down towards him and he closed his eyes, if anything he’d drowse a bit for now.

He felt a gentle squeeze from Pele and figured the conversation must have turned to him.  Now he really wanted to know what that conversation was about. Then Kencil put her hand on Pele’s leg, as if soothing her.  Is this over his relationship with her, or is she worrying over what she had to do to him..or something similar along those lines?  He fought back a soft tear at the thought, she was right earlier, he wants any kind of relationship with her now, just to have something special with her again, he never knew he’d miss hearing “my trainer”, the first time he actually understood Pele.  Now he’d like to hear her claim him in any way possible.

But his choice, he tried to make it as evenly as he could.  Taran already thought she was his mother, made him call her mama.  He felt her reaction to it. And she would already be his caretaker.  She would already be acting as his mother, and everyone in town, they had to have explained to them why she was so attached to a fennekin.  Even Shii made the guess that she was his mother.

He would try to do what he could to fight back that part of him that wanted something special with her at any cost.  But otherwise it was the best way to present themselves to the town, unless he wanted everyone to know the human thing.  And that felt like an extremely bad idea.

He softly perked his ears as Kencil spoke up, “You feeling ok there Lapras?  And are we near home?”

Lapras nodded, “I will not say a lot, as my purpose is to the seas, but I will say these things.  It is good to have a spirit talker here again. And I’m surprised it was Flint who caused an issue and not Gleam.”

Gleam earflicked, “I was asleep, or trying to, for most of the trip.  Though someone woke me up not long ago. Maybe if I was awake the whole time I would have caused issues.”

Lapras giggled, “I have my doubts Gleam.  You’re probably the only whelp to ever ride me who hid in his mothers arms.  Instead of trying to check around my back. I get the feeling you have your doubts of riding me, you did always watch any whelps you had to break the rules with closely, I wonder do you watch yourself as closely too?  But if I’m not busy and those watching you are ok I wouldn’t mind you staying near me. A chance to talk again, and perhaps now you’d be willing to admit a touch more about your origin?”

Gleam perked up, “Wait a..you knew?”

Lapras shrugged, “The island has its guardians, the sea has its own guardian.  It is important we know when a human arrives, as our duties are to the humans, and their duties are to us.  Though I’ve yet to have a little one, so you’re not here for me. Anyway we are close to port young Gleam. But I would never mind your company, the human who trained me always had interesting tales of the human world.”

 

Gleam earfolded more, looking a touch confused, and looking at the others, then sighed, “I...I’ll remember that, th thank you lapras.  If I might ask a favor, can you drop us off at the cove under the town? I think I’m not the only one who needs a bit more time.”

Lapras nodded, “Flint’s hiding place, well enough, I warn you though it isn’t as secret as it once was.  But nobody stays there actively.”

Gleam nodded, “Well enough, thank you for the warning Lapras.”

Pele looked down, “Not gonna ask any of us if this is ok?”

Gleam sighed, “I am not ready for the crowd of pokemon, no matter what size it’ll be.  Something happened with Flint, I’m not sure what exactly, but he also needs to recover.  Finally any of you could have told Lapras differently.” He also wanted time alone to maybe talk about this whole mother thing, he thinks he can hold it together enough at least.

Pele frowned, squeezing him gently, “Sorry didn’t realize you were so out of sorts.”  She turned to Lapras, “Thank you for being so understanding to my kit.” She paused, not having caught herself for once. “To Gleam I mean.”  

Gleam blushed heavily, and did what he cold to hide his excitement, his heart almost skipped a beat, he knew it, he was still hers, in some way, in somehow.  No, that’s the hurt part talking, he needs to keep a level head, as best he can, “Nuh, i..it’s a bit odd to hear b but..w we should get used to it. Th...the town will expect it more at least.”  

Pele sighed, “Ok..” She blushed, “My little one, I’ll try to keep that in mind..”

Gleam shuddered, trying to push down how excited that made him feel.  He will need to get used to that so badly. He can’t have these extreme reactions every time, still he needs to calm down, “Just, d don’t expect me to call you mama too often like Taren insisted.  Mother or mom sounds a bit more appropriate to me.” He really isn’t sure how true that feels. He bets mama, like a whelp sounds better to her, and the same part of him happy to be her kit, wants to make her happy so badly.

Pele gave a soft little smile, and leaned in to nose as him, and he couldn’t help it.  At that point he just wanted to surprise her with happiness. Once she leaned in he met her muzzle with repeated little licks.  She used to do it to him so often if she was near his face he remembered, it always made him chuckle. He wondered how she’d react to the same show of affection.

He hid a grin as Pele’s eyes shot open in surprise.  At this point why not just enjoy her reaction, he let his tail wag lightly, though it mostly made the blanket shake back and forth and form a little breeze that chilled him slightly. What he didn’t expect was the huge licks back from Pele, and she was holding him, he had nowhere to hide as his muzzle received licks, he tried to lift his paws to cover it, and his chest, paws, and muzzle just all got licked at once instead.  He giggled just a little as Pele finally let off, and Gleam stuck his tongue out at her, “Fine you win, you have the bigger tongue.”

Pele looked down at him with a sigh, “Is that what that was about?  Who had the bigger tongue really?”

Gleam just looked away innocently, and caught Kencil staring at him oddly.  He then looked up, “Um a anyway it’s about time to get off. Since you’ll probably need to carry flint off.  M might be easier if Kencil had me?”

Lapras spoke back, “Or you can climb off of me yourself.”

Gleam sighed, “Rule number, honestly I forget what I numbered it at the moment but, whelps being escorted do not get to walk, only carried.  Technically that should last until we meet up with Vulpix and report in. But I’ll let it slide once we get off in the cove. If anyone can stand to let me down.

Lapras sighs a bit, “Never have I met a whelp so hard on himself.”

Gleam folded his ears softly, “Never met a whelp who at one point was on the more grown side before either I’d wager.  I still remember many an escort and rescue mission involving whelps. While I have no plans to need such things at this time, it feels like it’d be unfair to those whelps I escorted to allow myself more freedom than I gave them.”

Gleam let off a soft yeep as he found himself transfered over to Kencil without any warning beyond he asking for it.  He figured he already licked Pele, why not. He gave Kencil a few affectionate licks as well. Been so long since he got used to doing that, he needs to get used to acting like a mon again.  Which means he needs to remember to lick to show affection. Even if it feels weird at the moment. Still he grinned as Kencil acked in surprise, then held him close while she got off of Lapras.  Though to his surprise she carefully set him down once they got off. He looked up curiously and she nodded to him, then made a shooing motion, “Go on go on, don’t stand in the way.” He blushed and made his way on into the cove, over to where Flint had set up so long ago.

He looked up to Lapras and nodded, “Thank you Lapras.  And yeah looks like someone could put me down.”

Kencil spoke up at that point, “You need your own exercise too.  We can’t let you just be carried all the time. Besides you’re starting to seem playful, and a touch energetic.  I half expect you want to bound around and check out the cove. And otherwise you might drown me in slobber if I don’t put you down.  Eesh when did you learn lick?”

Gleam blushed and nodded, “Fine enough, just noticed that or feeling my emotions?”

Kencil smirked, “Noticing it but...I will say this for the time being you aren’t currently hurting emotionally.  You’re emotions have settled, though you are repressing one and I’ve no reason why, otherwise your hyper. Though you feel a bit off still.”

Gleam nodded, “I could explain it in a little bit, mind to mind, but can I enjoy feeling good for a bit?  Which reminds me I need to talk to you and Pele about that whole telepathy thing, once we settle in a bit make sure I remember to ok?”

Kencil tilted her head but nodded, “ok…”

With that Gleam bounced into the cove, and started checking out his old living quarters, before he officially became part of the guild.  He knew he’d have to admit to Kencil eventually why he felt so chipper right now. And in part he was rather embarrased over it. But he just spent so long unhappy, a bit of time feeling ok was rather nice, and he was going to enjoy it while it lasts darnit.

* * *

Kencil sighed, watching Gleam pretty much bound into the cave, she looked to Taren, ”Would you mind whelp sitting Gleam?  There is something odd about his good mood, he seems to know what it is, but asked to be allowed to enjoy it for a bit. Perhaps you two can play some games or something?”

The shinx nodded and prowled off after the fennekin.  She actually could keep them all in sight, the actual cave-like portion of the cove not terribly big.  But as Flint and Gleam proved, a couple of mon could live down here pretty decently. And right now Gleam was digging through what looked to be small item stashes and stores.  She meanwhile decided to check on Pele and Flint.

Pele slowly got off and looked around the area, Kencil noted she seemed slightly confused.  This is her first time here so she guesses she isn’t sure what to think and it lost.

Ralts smiled quietly, “Sis.  If Flint looks like he won’t wake up for awhile he still has his sleeping area set up down here.  We can let him rest there just follow me ok?”

Pele nodded, “Rather damp down here, and did I hear Flint and Gleam used to live down here?”

Kencil nodded.

Pele sighed a moment, “Oddest cubs, you’d think so much water would make them uncomfortable.”

Kencil smirks, “Then you probably have a surprise and a half coming your way once Gleam feels well enough to take that jump.  Which reminds me.” She then looked over to Shinx and Gleam yelling their way,”Hey Taran, no swimming for whelps unless it’s already confirmed to be warm water.  Don’t want him freezing.”

Pele blinked rappidly, “Wait, no swimming?”  She blinked, “Actually I shouldn’t be surprised.  I do know how odd that sounds, but he liked to swim as a human, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised he’d still do it as a Fennekin.”  She blushed a moment, “Especially after he helped me learn how to swim when I kept being upset I couldn’t be near him when he was swimming.”

Kencil blinks a moment then giggles, “Oh good grief..like Mother like son I suppose.”  The ralts blinked softly then blushed, now even she’s doing it calling them mother and child.  “I um, that just came out.”

Pele blushed a bit more, “Does it really look that obvious?”

The ralts smiled a moment, “I suppose it does..a Delphox constantly holding and carrying around a fennekin whelp.  Feeding him whenever he needs it, soothing him to sleep. Whenever he’s upset and crying, he reaches for the delphox, who takes him, craddles and rocks him.  And there is more but I figure that’s enough.”

Pele blinked, blushing much more, “I just, until I started being shown tricks I was doing what felt right.  And trying to remember how he handled me when I was a fennekin. Once I started to, remember, all the other stuff it’s just, become kind of reflex.”  

She frowned softly, “I think I’ve got it bad, I think I’ve been dealing with the loss of our bond longer than he has to be honest.  I” She sighed, “I noticed I no longer saw him as a trainer, and try as I might, it slowly became harder to trust him. Even back in the human world I should have seen it coming.  He really lost all heart to be a trainer when he came back, and was giving away most of the pokemon who still wanted to train to those he could trust most. And he was slowly teaching those of us who stuck with him more about how to camp, how to survive in the wilderness, and generally treating us as equals.  And he was trying his best to stick to his promise to the 6 of us, to get us into the pokemon championship hall of fame. But all of us knew he wasn’t really up to it anymore.”

She gently set down Flint in a rather large nest made out of hay, gently bunching it around the rockruff.  “So yeah, a big part of me wants to take care of him. Wants to be his mother. When Taran forced him to call me mama.  I let him know mind to mind I wouldn’t take it to heart, I didn’t know what Taran was doing but I knew it was upsetting Gleam.  So I soothed him a bit to just say it and get it over with, promising we needed to talk later.” 

She closed her eyes, “And I tried my best, I lied, but I tried my best not to.  I’ve had thoughts of him as my kit ever since. I keep replaying what he said in my head over and over.  Those big hurt upset eyes, looking at me, calling me mama.”

“And then I broke his heart into pieces in the dungeon.  I know some of it had to be done. But I could have been softer, I could have been easier on him but...but.”

She blushed hard, “My kit tried to command me what to do.  My little boy try to dictate to me my actions, and tell me to leave him alone in a dangerous place he was obviously scared of.  That’s why my commands came out so harshly. He needed to know his place. That I only let him lead because I was trying to see how much I could trust him.  He needed to know his mother wouldn’t just abandon him to Arceus knows what in that dungeon.”   
  
Kencil spoke up, “Um Pele.”

“No Kencil, no need to analyze this yet, let me tell how bad I’ve been.  I told him I wouldn’t take it to heart, I told him I’d just let it mean nothing.  But ever since we got here I’ve been treating him as if he was my child. And using commands whenever he wouldn’t listen to me.  Yes every time I’ve given a reason for it, I’ve made it sound good. But a part of me has been using it as punishment for a naughty kit.  Listen to mama.”

“Pele really just a moment.”

“And it isn’t right to him.  He was hoping to come back, a fennekin, about to be a braixen.  And while probably still less powerful than me, be much closer to my equal.  I bet he had taught himself some pretty powerful moves. Maybe had hopes of showing off in a dungeon with me, probably use some of the combo’s with me he had taught our team.  Maybe wind up with some powerful 3 way synergy with Flint, he taught all of you to work as a team, I bet. Cover tactics, distractions, move synergies. I get the feeling Flint was being worked on a bit to take damage for the team, while himself and you were taking advantage of it to safely use powerful long ranged moves.”

“He did Pele but you need--”

“What do I do instead to the man who raised me, who hoped to be my equal instead of my master?  I coddle him, treat him as an infant, and when he finally pushed back. I break his heart so hard that he’ll do anything to be back with me.  Even accept me as his mother. The mon he raised and taught everything she knows. I’ve thought it before, and it’s true. He has more right to the title parent for raising me, than I do.”

“And I think I can be his caretaker.  I think I can be his mother when I do that to him?  I don’t deserve it. He’s wonderful, he is everything to me, and I don’t deserve any bit of it.  But I don’t even know what to do now. The damage is already done. And now I’m even slipping in the open, he’s taking it in stride, obviously uncomfortable with it but---”

“ **Pele stop that.** ”

Her ears perked as she quieted down immediately, opened her eyes, blinking away the tears she had developed and attempted to look up to Gleam, “I..I’m sorry sir I go--”  But stopped herself, he wasn’t standing up there. She then looked down, gulping and gasping a moment, Kencil and Taran looking on in surprise at the interaction as the small fennekin stood there.

Gleam was staring up at her, she could tell he was unhappy with what she had done, but the guilt she felt, was of a mon disobeying her trainer, she thought…., “ **Shush.** ”

Pele quieted down, surprising herself.

Gleam closed his eyes, “I was hoping I would have a chance to talk about this in a better setting.  To relax and speak of it, especially when I was in a good mood. But I come over to check on Flint and find you beating yourself up over a combination of mistakes, actions you had to take, and your own personal feelings.  Pele you don’t let mistakes get you down, you always keep going. You know that. I taught you that. You acknowledge them and learn from them.”

“Pele, yes what you said in the dungeon hurt.  It hurt hard, and it hurt bad. But the truth is what hurt me wasn’t the loss of the bond.  You said it yourself, I had already started to treat you as equal, I was already trying to break the trainer and mon bond.  And just be there as your friend, your partner.” Gleam sniffled a bit, fighting back tears.

“No Pele what hurt me was losing your trust.  When you made me realize you didn’t trust me, and then proved that you had good reason not to.  You made me realize how far I had fallen.” He shuddered shaking away his tears, “Even now I can barely keep this up, but I need to finish.”

“Pele, from the moment you got here, you’ve done for me what needed to be done.  When I refused to accept how weak my body was, you forced me to show myself how weak I was.  When I was too pigheaded to accept I couldn’t lead you through a dungeon, you stalled me for time with a training course and tiring me out while apparently these three were on their way.  Don’t even know how you managed to get ahold of them, but you did have my badge so I have some guesses.”

Gleam was shuddering, sobbing softly, “You’ve naturally kept me warm, as I need to be.  Held me, comforted me, took care of my night time needs. And when I tried to recreate the same mistake Fulger made.  Ordering all of you to leave me. You called me out on it and proved one way I was wrong, using an answer I taught you for circumstances just like that.”

He shudders more, sighing out, “I checked our bags.  Back then I wasn’t thinking straight either, I bet I would have eventually done it if Fulger hadn’t ordered me away, but I should have done it first thing.  But we had an answer that didn’t require you Pele. Petrify orb. Walk into monster house, activate orb. Safely walk away as nothing can move. Seeing that in the bag made me remember, I always liked to pack petrify orbs if I could back in the day.  But I was too lost by the time that happened. I had the bag, I didn’t need to wait to be rescued back in the day. I could have left at any time. And Fulger didn’t need to order me to leave, I could have dropped the petrify orb instead, if either of us thought of it.  Fulger didn’t need to die..”

He sobbed  more heavily, speaking through tears now, “But you’re right I do want a relationship with you, any I could have, just to be with you, just to be near you.  But I can’t be your equal, I’m losing what I have already mustered to do this. You already promised you’d take care of me, and you’d help me grow up, and help me overcome everything you can, so that I could perhaps be the kind of person I used to be..except as a Delphox.  When you made that promise what did you think that was? That isn’t just being a caretaker, that isn’t just meeting my needs. That’s teaching me, that’s being my parent, that’s being my mother.”

“And I’ve tried to hold it back.  I I’ve tried to n not overly react.  B b but P Pele, e every time y you called me y your kit, e every time you claimed me as y your child I  f felt excited happy. Y Yes I’m sure some of it is, is not healthy b but, l let's face it I I need a p parent, a a a guide.  A, a and I I can’t th think of anymon better r right now, y you’ve been a a a natural.”

He slowly padded over, by now fully crying, and losing any part of his decorum, nuzzling into her leg affectionately “Please mama, stop beating yourself up.  Just want mama happy.” He put his head on her leg, looking up sadly, continuing to cry.

Pele wiped away a tear, picking Gleam up.  Then softly worked on cleaning his face, before holding him close, shhhing soothingly as she held him against her body.  “Point taken sweetheart.” She gently groomed along his body, just to help him relax and soothe and she sighed, “And as much as I do want this, I guess somewhere deep down I still want my trainer too.  We can work on that together though. But you just managed to command me, that still takes some trust for me to obey.” She sighed, “But let me say sorry, not for what I have done. But that you had to do that.  My kit shouldn’t need to teach when I’m being too hard on myself. If I’m going to be the mother I’m going to need to get by without having you try to be that big. But Gleam, my kit. You also just proved to me I can bring you back, you’re still there, hiding.  And I’ll do what I can to help you grow up healthy again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated making this two chapters or not, but a general not wanting to somehow make more filler, and a general laziness along with my self imposed deadline for posting comming up, forced me to just post it as one chapter, it is pretty well hitting the edge of what I feel ok posting as a chapter. I’m trying to keep things close to a same size..and don’t want to post chapters that are too long, even if i could.
> 
> Otherwise yeah, I have slowly alluded to it here and there, but some very VERY nasty stuff has been seen by our little heroes. And Gleam has seen even more.
> 
> And yeah Pele has serious misgivings..she still isn’t done either.


	10. A Morelull’s Visit to the Cove

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly a bit of fluff that does more character introduction.
> 
> Kencil discovers Gleam’s actual issue with gummies and enacts a simple plan to have him at least try his first one.
> 
> With a side of who’s the mama drama.

Kencil sighed, looking at the two. In the end she was glad she didn’t quiet Pele down as Gleam came over.  She was worried Gleam would wind up upset over things. And he sort of did, but not in the way she feared. Both of them are needing to get used to the flipped roles it seems, they both have a few various emotions, but they love each other greatly.  She’s sure the two can work things out, though now she wants to be nearby to make sure the two wind up with a healthy mother/son relationship. 

She knows both have misgivings about being a mother/son pair, especially because of what happened in the dungeon, and the two desperate for a bond that stopped existing.  But Gleam had the right point, he’s a whelp and in need of a parental figure, she really feels like he’ll be easiest to deal with of the two, he at least seems to accept he needs it.  Most of the whelps left are even starting to latch onto one unevolved or another, just as someone to look up to. And Gleam seems like he needs a mother figure in his life, he said he didn’t want her to pry into his past, but she might need to.  Something about the subject of parents is touchy to him, his emotions spin about at the thought of them.

But now she has another thing to worry about, he has a hatred of Gummis.  Which is weird, given that she’s never met a mon that hates them ever. And he needs to eat them if he’s going to stay healthy.  He sometimes gathered with Shinx, maybe he knows of an incident with gummi’s. Or perhaps Flint, though she isn’t sure she wants to wake him up at this point in time.  Then again she considered, this island didn’t have a lot of fire pokemon, Mom and little sis were the two main ones at one point. Even if he collected a lot for Shii, how often did he bring home fire gummi’s while collecting.  There was actually little reason to, and yet he brought them home anyway if he couldn’t find enough other things.

She looked to Shinx, “ _ Hey Taran, you’ve been with Gleam enough.  Why does he seem to reject any and all ideas of eating gummies, and what did he do with the excess?” _

Taran perked, looking back to Kencil _ , “Excess gummies, hmm, he went ahead and gave them to anyone who wanted them.  Always making an odd face if ate in front of him. Though he usually tried to ignore it.  Tossed away any that were not wanted. Yes he did toss away fire gummies. No idea why.” _

Kencil sighed, thinking, “ _ I hate to break their moment but..” _

Kencil took a second to connect to Pele, “ _ Sorry to intrude on you and Gleam’s moment, but I’m trying to figure something out.  You ever have a gummi before?” _

Pele replied quickly, “ _ Never heard of em before here, don’t know what they look like even.  I know Gleam seems reluctant to eat them, though given human whelp food I understand why.” _

Kencil perked, wait right, he was human, and he was always told this was for the whelps nutrition, he may be one of those who considers them for whelps only, and given what Pele just said, if he thought they were like human food “ _ Pele, was something wrong with human whelp food?” _

Another quick reply, “ _ Oh geeze I was bad sick once when I was a fennekin, had to have food I didn't need to chew, which human whelp food is like that.  I managed to stomach it, but very bland of flavor, nothing but mush and maybe small small lumps of something resembling food.” _

Kencil sighed, “ _ Thank you, this answers so much.  And I think we’re gonna have a pleasant surprise for Gleam later.” _

Kencil looked up, “I’m going to let Vulpix know we are here and just recovering.”  And with that she walked over to a more secluded area and opened her badge getting Vulpix’s attention.

* * *

Vulpix smiled down to Shii, “Are they back yet, are they back yet huh huh huh? I napped till couldn’t nap no more.  Wanna see Gleam, and his mama, his mama sounds super nice!”

Vulpix sighed, Shii is so excited to see Gleam again.  She has to admit she wants to see Gleam too, even if he’s a whelp and apparently has baggage.  “Not yet it seems, I bet Gleam is still sleeping and that’s why they haven’t gotten here he might need to wake up as well.”

Shii nodded, as if that made sense.  Vulpix was still trying to figure out the sense of it, but it sounded like some of the nonsense Gleam would use.  And it worked, and Shii giggles slightly, “Gleam must be super sleepy head to still be all asleep.”

Vulpix’s badge went off, Shii looking up excitedly, but she quieted down to listen, “This is Vulpix, what is there to report?”

“Ralts answering in.  It’s been a bit up and down emotionally for the group, after Rockruff had his thing, it was Fennekin and Delphox's turn, but it’s better for both of them now.  Anyway Fennekin insisted he wanted a bit more quiet for the time, we’ve set up in the cove.”

Vulpix frowned, “Anything more you can share on Gleam and” she looked down to Shii, “his mother?  As in anything we should watch out for.”

“It's a bit complicated but I can explain it later to you.  The short of it is that both are still dealing with Gleam being a whelp again, and the fact he has whelp needs.  As well as what is apparently combined trauma for Gleam from here and where he came from.”

Shii awwss softly, “So he was used to no mama, then he suddenly needs mama?  He’s lucky she there to help. But oohh, I know where they are I know where they are.  Can I go see them pleeeeeeeeaaaassseeee?”

Vulpix sighed and turned on the badge, “Ok I understand that. Do you think he could maybe stand the addition of one whelp morelull, she really wants to see him.”

Shii perked and listened waiting for Ralts to respond..”Say yes. Say yes.  Say yes. Say yes please.”

“Actually I was wanting a favor, and Shii being available would be helpful, so if she’s willing to ge a good helper, and work on a little plan with me, I think she can come by.”

Vulpix giggled watching the little morelull, “She's bouncing excitedly, so I think she's willing, what is this plan?”

“Well here's the thing, did you know Gleam has never eaten a gummi before?  Even when he was here months ago he apparently ate only berries and apples.”

Vulpix blinked a moment.  Shii was staring up in disbelief.  Vulpix opened back up “How did he manage that, no wait why did he---  But he ran gummies so many times, I figured he was, you know the extras, I just---  Ok I'm flabbergasted, explain? What exactly little fluff was doing?”. 

“Yeah I was a bit surprised when I found out myself.  Shinx says he'd give gummies to anyone with him if in a group.  And had apparently just tossed away gummies if no one wanted any and the bag was overflowing.”

Vulpix just replied, “Why!?  He sometimes went gummi hunting on his offtime.  We all thought he just wanted an excuse. But he, I, why!?  It's why I wanted to feed him first, in public, so he would know he didn't need an excuse anymore.  That he'd get all he wanted of them, as long as we can manage it ”

“I think the answer is with you in the office.  He first started dungeons because he was wanting to get Shii her food.  And when well, it, happened he took over watching and raising her. Have any of us ever checked?  Shii how full of gummies is your family box? The one Gleam had permission for?”

Vulpix looked to Shii, “Do you know honey?”

Shii nodded softly and Vulpix opened up the badge, “Go on its in talk mode.”

Shii took a breath, “Not too many left, I I I've been eating from it not from what given, cause Gleam got for me but.”. 

Vulpix smirked, “So your the one not eating her share, because you have a store of food you've been using.  Well can't be mad it does leave more for others. But go on dear how big is that stock, you can use the box in here to count, it should be connected to the network.”

Shii counted for awhile but finally, “around 200.”

Vulpix sighed, “Good grief, and that's after you've been eating on them since, well since he's been gone.  You get that Ralts?”

“Yeah, but I have a suspicion here.  Shii honey, now how many non-grass gummies do you have?”

Shii giggled, “Oh right I count now, um you want  know Fairy, flying, poison, steel, fire, or ice? Fairy is around the same as Grass.”

Vulpix paused,  “Wait, wait, wait.  That was grass only!? You have enough of each that it matters!?”

Shii looked up innocently, “Gleam always told me that if he wasn't here feed me to just eat grass or fairy gummies, as they better for me.  Only eat others if no grass or fairy ones. Been eating only the grass and fairy ones, have more of others than I do grass.”

Vulpix stood there open mouthed and Ralts came on the badge, “From your silence I take it my guess is right.  Now I wonder what else he has stored in there for Shii.”

Vulpix, “Why!  Ok given he loves Shii, fine plenty of food for her.  But she just said she had more than 200 fire gummies! Why didn't he eat some of those?”

“That comes to part 2 of this.  I spoke with Delphox, it turns out where they live has no gummies.  She had never heard of them before in her life. He probably thinks they are whelp only food, and nobody ever noticed to tell him different.”

Shii perked, “But what he eat as whelp there?”

Vulpix turned on the badge, “To repeat Shii’s question, as I want to know too.  What do they feed their whelps over there?”

“I didn't ask for an exact name, but Delphox said it was some kind of mush, with very little flavor, and was designed to not be chewed.  In other words, unlike gummies, not yummy Shii.”

Shii made a face.

Vulpix sighed, “Why would they use that for their whelps?”

“No exact idea Vulpix, but if I had to guess, Gleam always says good for you, not if it's yummy.  The food was probably made to be very good for whelps. If how strong he was is any indication.”

“Which leads me to the favor I want from Shii.  And I think it'll only work with Shii, because he cares for her.  Can she come in with a gummi for herself and one for Gleam? As for your part Shii, hopefully you being there will be enough to make him eat it.  But…”

* * *

Shii giggled, she was glad she was getting more important things to do.  Everybody said she was close to leaving whelphood, and that she was a super healthy whelp to boot.  And now she gets to help make sure Gleam will eat his gummies and make sure he becomes super healthy too.

She really hoped she could do a lot to help others.  She felt a bit jealous of those with vines to grab stuff, or arms, or whatever.  But she’ll do what she could to help, and grow stronger and then evolve and have arms then and do lots of stuff like her mom did.

Oh and there’s the entrance to the cove from up top, a lot of mon know where it’s at now, but they’ve kept it somewhat hidden.  Everybody likes Flint, so they let him have it. It’s his home away from guild. Oh she can hear mon talking, though it’s loud talk.  Shii does not like loud talk too much. Loud talk usually mean not happy. Sound like Gleam but why Gleam loud talk.

“I was hoping we were through with this.  Between us at least. I I’d be upset but more ok if Kencil brought it to us, talking to us later.  As I’m sure there are a few things you will have to say about us, and lets face it the teams dynamic and health kind of was your thing back then.  And you seem to keep it up even now.”

And Gleams Mama? “Please understand I just, I just want to give you an out.  Just allow you to take it all back, I’m not asking you, just leaving it there that I understand if you need to.  We have so much of what is going on lately done in the heat of the moment, when emotions are high and at their peak.  And right now very few have heard of the idea of me being your mother. I just wanted to give you a safe---”

Shii not understand, mother is mother....giving out, why say mother not mother?

Gleam whined, “I don’t want an out, and yes emotions are riding.  I’m a whelp now what do you expect? I’m weak, hand fed apparently, can only do busy work in a camp, need to be commanded in a dungeon so I don’t make a huge mistake, get tired easily, and I, I, I need something stable.  Besides what do I say to them if you aren’t my mother? The truth?”

Shii really confused now, mother not mother?  Mother is mother. Mother lied when said she was mother?

Gleam continued, “That I come from another world entirely, not just another land but another world.  That I’m not a pokemon. That I raised you? That at one point I commanded you to battle? In dangerous battles that could have got you killed, all because we all as a group pretty much enjoyed the idea?  But then I was brought here, and turned into a fennekin specifically to be this Savior of the Cosmos. And then after all was said and done brought back again with one of the pokemon I trained, because my second time here would leave me a whelp?”

Shii mama said Gleam very special one time, very unique pokemon, listen to Gleam like parent.  Gleam say he not pokemon, he raise his mama? But made into pokemon? Is what mama mean? Shii confused, but Gleam sound unhappy over this fact.

Gleams mama but not mama? “Gleam I just don’t want anything rash to be enforced forever.  And I didn’t mean you had to decide right now. I just wanted you to know you had an out. That’s all, I don’t..I really don’t understand why you are so upset.  If you changed your mind we would find some other cover. Please Gleam think rationally.”

Shii frowns, mon starting sound upset, Gleam sound like cry Gleam.

Gleam returned, “No, I was trying to think rationally, I was trying to give all the rational answers.  Even before everything else I was trying to figure out what our cover would be. If I had returned as I was, I was thinking I could claim you as a sister.  Some kind of close family. Maybe still mother, but I figured sister or similar would explain why we were so close, and knew each other so well, but I was allowed to sometimes tell you what to do.  And I had hoped fought together so well. But I came back a whelp, and from day one, from the very first day we’ve been here. You’ve been comforting me, feeding me, admonishing me when I was wrong...which you arn’t really doing here, so do you find me right?  Keeping me warm and safe when I needed to sleep, tended to my paw when I hurt it.”

“Once Flint brought me this scarf you starting tucked me in with it.  Now I find it tucked around me tightly whenever I wake up. You again admonished me in the dungeon when I panicked and tried to make a stupid mistake, which you stopped.  And you’ve already said it, you can’t help but think of me as your kit. You already promised to raise me. I, I, when I explained that I thought that all we needed to say to each other about this was said.  But that’s why I told you to tell Shii that yes you were my mother. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Unless we explain the truth. Which is so messed up I hardly believe it myself.”

Shii frowned, lot of stuff said, but Shii think,Gleam not mama, acted like mama, and he want her to be mama because she act like mama?

Gleam sighed, “That is the rational explanation.  Do you want to hear irrational one? Would you like to know what you just offering that choice is doing to me?  That I’m trying to ignore, but I’m getting tired, and it’s getting harder to fight? Do you want to keep going and hear it?  Please just drop the subject, be my mother for now, let me have some piece of mind. I don’t know how much longer I can keep up holding back.  And I already promised Kencil the right to a breakdown tonight, I’m probably going to wind up crying myself to sleep. Please mama, no more, I want to be a happy whelp for the rest of the day, please.  Listen to Kencil, I know she’s communicating with you mama, she’s probably telling you how I am emotionally mama. Please…”

Shii very confused, but knows Gleam want mama, she knows that way he said mama.  He crying, want mama badly, Shii really understands that a lot.

Gleam’s mama but not mama but he wants mama? “I, I’m sorry Gleam I..I’ll try to let it go but--”  She paused, “Sorry. No buts.” Another pause, “For now. I’ll forget it, for my little kit.” She sighed heavily.

Shii smiled, sounds like Gleam’s mama is going to be his mama.  He sounded very upset at the idea she might not be his mama so Shii won’t tell anyone.  But Shii will wait before going down, she want see Gleam, but Gleam probably crying and need cuddles.  Shii want Gleam have all his cuddles, then Shii go down.

In truth, despite the fact he’s now crying messily, and being held in Pele’s lap.  And he resorted to asking her as please mama. He’s a bit proud of himself for not losing it worse than he did.  He just wished mama would drop the subject. At this point he doesn’t even care about the mental slipups, he was already falling down that hole so long ago.  He didn’t notice it but he was. All he did was accept what was happening, and accept what he needed. He didn’t just raise a fighter, he apparently raised a mother.  His mother. It sounds weird, it is weird. But it’s how things are going to be. He probably will have some misgivings over this, but he still just accepted the inevitable, and he’ll just work through it as her kit, and with her as his mother.

He perked up as pele lightly pet his head, moving his face up, rubbing his wet muzzle against her paw, then gave it a few licks, ew tears.  She looked down, sighing a bit and smiled, picking him up into her arms, he knew what she was about to do, he doesn’t love being groomed, especially by a tongue, but right now it means her affection to him.  And right now that is a lot of what he wants, just her love.

She smiled to him a little bit as she pulled her into his arms, “Silly, if you don’t like the taste of tears don’t rub your face and lick them back up.  Here your fur is a mess.” And soon enough Gleam saw that big old tongue come out, closed his eyes, and just held still for it at the moment. Enjoying the motherly attention, he wonders if he’ll wind up liking the lick grooming thing sometime, just because of the attention it brings from mama.

He blushed a moment but figured why not, “Thank you mama.”  he squirmed, looking around, blushing as he noticed Taran and Kencil both watching, amused.  He wondered a bit, looking over towards Flint, he at least still rested. He tried asking what was up with him, but was only told they don’t want to say exactly, because it’s something that might upset himself too.  At this point he couldn’t help but feel a bit shy as Taran and Kencil watched, he tried to hide against mama, just for her to shush him soothingly and pull him back out, 

“You’re among friends my little one.  They might be amused but they won’t make fun of you for it.  You were always so shy when I showed you affection before. Well sweety, do realize you asked for more of this as well.”  Gleam just blushed a bit more, then squeaked as her simple grooming turned to a bath of his whole body, looking up, “mamaa..”

She smiled a little bit, “You havn’t had a proper bath since we’ve been here.  I figured I should go ahead and fix that right now. And while I know you’re ok swimming I’m not gonna let you in any water for a bit.  So it’s my tongue or a rag if we can find one.” She grinned, “I figured why not your first bath as a whelp be as natural as possible.”

Gleam continued blushing, realizing just how much he asked for it.  He’d heard revenge is a dish served cold, but warm and damp seems to work pretty good too.  Kencil and Taran giggled just a bit, but he could tell it was decently good natured. He earperked and squeaked as he suddenly heard a familiar voice say “what are you doing here, go on in.”  He gulped softly, realizing who was here, and who was about to see him like this. Soon enough he saw a morelull and a very familiar white vulpix make their way in. Shii not so bad but, Sherry was going to see him getting a bath, he squirmed and whined shyly, as the two made their way in, Shii actually arguing a bit and looking so big,

Shii squirmed as she was lightly nudged along, “Is baftime, was gonna let them finish first Ms. Sherry!”

The Vulpix sighed and padded on in, “What do you mean it’s bathtime?  I told you he was down here, you were so excited to see him and.” She then looked up and noticed.  Seeing the large Delphox, well large to her, giving a much smaller whelp fennekin a bath, she twitched a moment, as old memories came flooding back.

“Ms. Ms. Ms. Ena have you returned?” she couldn’t help it that was the first thing that came to her mind.  Kencil suddenly stared at her, wide eyed, gasping and starting to look a strong mixture of anger and loss. Pele looked up, stunned a moment, wiping away a tear, looking like she was looking far away a moment then shook her head, coming back to things.

She looked down at the Vulpix, having paused the bath for now, softening her expression, “No.  No little one I’m Pele.” She looked at Kencil a moment, and conversation buzzed between the two.  Gleam decided to try to use that moment to get up to a less, embarrassing position, but found himself lightly pinned by Pele’s paws.  While Pele nodded to Kencil and sighed, “Even Kencil agrees I remind people of her, though to be called her name. Something about that sounds so wrong.  So Please Sherry don’t.”

Shii looked up confused and instead made her way over to the two fox pokemon, she was curious about Gleam and began climbing Pele’s leg.  Pele looking down curiously, “And you must be Shii. Just don’t get too close, I’m not letting him up till his bath is finished.”

Shii gave a little giggle and nodded, “Jus wanna see wha look like, whelp look different than after grown I know.”  She giggled more, merrily and happily as she got up to where she could look at Gleam properly, “Gleam, oh wow gleam small.  Gleam also not as pretty red and yellow, but look cute, especially cause your fur tip highlights show better, neato!. Hi Gleam.  I came with presents!” She giggled, mentioning a lil bag she had tied around her.

Gleam wondered what now, and tried to get a view of what all was going on, but he could barely see Sherry.  And Pele sighed returning to grooming him, then earperked, “Hightlights? I suppose it does look slightly blue on the tip, odd.”  she looked to Vulpix and Kencil, “I’ll let those two talk it out.” She looked at Gleam while she went back to his cleaning, “Kencil never did mention why she was so reluctant around you did she?”

Gleam for his part stopped squirming, hoping things would end faster if he made it easier on Pele, but he looked a touch surprised at the fur tip comment and perked at the question, shaking his head, “N nuh uh, I just know tha…”  he perked a moment, blinking, “Ahem sorry, I just know that Calad convinced her to join my team.” He blushed, “Mom, hurry up please?”

Pele smirked, “Sorry going to make sure I do it right.  Anyway there used to be a family consisting of a Delphox and a Fennekin who lived here when Kencil was young.  Sherry just called me by the Mother Delphox’s name. And..Kencil, well, apparently Calad and Ena decided to share parenting roles of their two whelps.  But, the fennekin whelp disappeared one day...Ena left soon after, presumably searching for her whelp.”

Pele sighed, “You reminded her of that family at first..I apparently look and feel a lot like Ena, so it’s made things, interesting.”  She looked at Sherry, “I suppose you are old enough to know her as well.” She looks to Kencil, bringing out a paw, wiping away a tear and shhhs, then looks back to the Vulpix, “Please, never call me that name again.  I am not here to replace her. I refuse to even try to replace her. I can do my best to help heartache, but I am not the other Delphox. So please, especially around my little sister, don’t do that.”

Gleam perked, little sister?  First time he heard that, what has mama and Kencil been up to.  He looked down to Vulpix and over to Shii, squirming as mama finished with grooming along his tail.  Shuddering softly a moment, he noses over to Shii, blushing, “Huh you ah, you look a lot bigger Shii, is it really just me or have you grown quite a bit too?”

 

Shii giggles, “Kencil says my whelpdom almost over, then I can start learning how to dungeon properly.  Maybe I can take you into a dungeon sometime when I good at dungeoning too.”

Vulpix started to talk at first, “No sweety he’s just a…” She paused, noticing Gleam had gone rather wide eyed and pale looking.

Gleam for his part heard that and started trying to push down an urge to panic.  Instinctively he pushed back to snuggle against his mother for comfort, while visions of the previous dungeon came to mind.  As well as all kind of thoughts of what else could go wrong, finally starting to speak, “No no no no no, no whelps in dungeons, too young.”  he whined, pushing back further against his mother, gulping softly. Trying to not panic, he doesn’t want to.

Mother shhhed and pet along the fennekin and sighed.  “He had a bad experience in the dungeon today. I think he’d like to not think about dungeoning for awhile ok Shii?”

Shii frowned, “Gleam not want go dungeon?  Well Shii not grown yet to explore, so more time for Gleam play with Shii.”  She giggled and nudged up next to Gleam, then she grinned, “Shii think Gleam just want stay home have more time with his mama.”

Gleam blushed hotly at the insinuation.  That he’s a little momma’s boy, he earfolded a bit, “No it’s just, o o one of the rules, unless emergency situations you don’t take whelps into the dungeons, t t trust me I didn’t want to go into the one I had to, b but no other way home.”

Vulpix sighed, “Unless it’s one of the easier dungeons with an experienced explorer.  Because sometimes a whelp needs or could use something in the dungeon. Gleam how many times did you take Shii with you when you just wanted to relax and goof around in a dungeon?  I believe your excuse was to feed her some gummies in the dungeon so there would be more room in the bags? And one whelp already fed?”

Gleam lowered his ears.  He didn’t think anyone would consider that idea, but why are they fighting it.  He does not want to go into a dungeon, he sighed, “I I I just, not right now. Let me rest in town.”  He shivered as he felt the buzz from telepathic communication, trying to catch who might be talking to who.  For all he knows they are explaining to Vulpix what happened.

He perked up, “So what brings you here Vulpix, shouldn’t you be handling returning parties?”

She sighed, “I came here to see you little fluff, I heard you were here and wanting a low amount of people.  I told Rattata that Flint's mission had ended successfully, that for the time being all of you wanted it to remain quiet what exactly the mission was.  I gave him enough of a hint that this was important to core members of Terraflare, so he probably has an idea you are here. He seemed ok to let me go at least, and I promised I would grab a report from Flint’s team, then tasked him to put a few town mon on design for a party.  That this expedition gave us reason to celebrate.”

Gleam folded his ears, just what he needed, a big party where he’ll be the center of attention, but she was so excited, he pushed back against momma a little more, “R right, I’ll keep that in mind.  So you sure Rattata is ok handling things, don’t want him overwhelmed.”

Sherry sighed, “I think I’m starting to see what other have told me little fluff.”  She swished her tails softly, “Now the reason I came here is that I sent Shii ahead with a bit of a snack for you, and I wanted to come and make sure you ate it.  I’m sure you could use a bite to eat. And I find her sitting outside. So I’m pretty sure you haven’t had anything yet.”

Gleam whined a little bit more, he thinks he knows where this is going already.  As the Vulpix went over to Shii and dug into the lil bag she had on her. Pulling out a couple of gummies.  Gleam winced looking at them, he never really wanted to taste them, the fact they were so soft to hold was odd to him.  Huh why two, one’s green. Now he had heard that wasn’t as good for him based on typing, Vulpix smiled, “I also packed one for Shii, so you two could share gummies.  Little present for her, for being a good girl.”

Gleam whined a bit more, his organs buzzing again, then quieting down, he mrrfed.  “I’m sure other whelps on the island need this more than me. I’ve already grown used to berries and apples.”  He looked up a bit hopefully.

Then Shii started up, “Gleam no eat gummies?  Come on Gleam is good for you eat. Important if want grow strong.”

Gleam lowered his ears more, his own words being used against him, even if she doesn’t get it exactly right, “No, no it’s not that it’s just..I i I’m plenty healthy, and..and it’s important the other whelps on the island get plenty.. I I I heard stocks were limited, an and I i don’t gotta get used to other foods like other whelps do.”

Shii nodded, “Then I not eat gummi too!  It give even more other whelps, and I almost not whelp.  Can start getting used to big food too like Gleam.” Shii smiled happily.

Gleam eardropped more, this isn’t fair, “N n no I...i it’s important you eat I..” he realized he’s backed into a corner already.  He could try to argue but he’s used to Shii’s line of questioning. The only way he ever got out of eating them before was by claiming whelphood and non-whelphood made a difference.  She might need to work on her grammar but her mind can go fast. Anything he says now, she can apply to herself. And she looks up to him so much and..h..he promised he’d make sure she got good nutrition.  He groaned a bit, after what he did to Bella and Cray, he can’t let them down and let her not have her nutrition.

Gleam shook his head, “N..nuh I…” he frowned, and talked a bit defeated, “n no yer right...wh whelps need their food.  If, If you don’t eat em you don’t get your nutrition. It’s important you grow up eating well.” he lowers his ears, “Like all other whelps.”

He sighed, why did they need to bring Shii, he prob coulda talked his way out otherwise.  But she always tried to copy him.

Shii perked, “But you like other whelps too.  I think you smaller than me even. If you dun need em I dun need em.  So more for other whelps.”

Gleam whined, “N No yer right, I I’m like other wh whelps need em to I just..”  he pouts a bit then squeaked as Pele picked up the fire gummii, “Just open your mouth Gleam I’ll go ahead and feed you.  You could use a bit more food anyway.”

Gleam whined a bit more, “O o ok mama..” He opened his maw and closes his eyes.  Why did he hear Shii giggling? But soon enough he felt that gummi brought to his maw, shuddering over the things soft texture, he waited for it to be put in all the way, but it didn’t happen, he looked up, ears flattening while Delphox smiles, “Go on dear, bite down on what you got so far.” he whined more, he didn’t want to taste it more than he had to..this’ll make it get everywhere in his maw.  He noticed Shii watching carefully, closing his eyes he bit into the gummy, whining helplessly.

What he didn’t expect was the burst of a fiery flavor, it provided.  Had just the right amount of sweetness, a bit of liquid inside the gummy helped put down a slight thirst he had, his eyes opened in surprise, he didn’t expect it to actually taste good and was soon chewing down the rest of it.  Even it’s texture seemed just right, not too smooth, just chewy enough, and as it went down he swore it felt like it warmed up his body, almost like he could feel it directly feeding his inner fire. 

He blushed very hotly as he couldn’t help but react, once he had the rest of the first bite taken down, his tail was wagging and he found himself reaching for the next bit of his gummy, mom had held it away a bit to let him finish his first bit, but he didn’t want to wait, he started standing up, then rearing up on his hindlegs, trying to get at what his mind now found to be a very tasty treat.  Pele looked more than a little bit surprised and started bringing it down within reach. He grabbed onto her arm with his forepaws, and began digging into the last bite once he could, pretty much snatching it out of her hand.

Once he’d downed that he licked his lips and started sniffing around for more, before remembering himself, blushing very hotly, looking around at the others.  Most of them had soft smiles of amusement, only Shii unable to keep herself from giggling then she smiled. “He really liked it, he really liked it. Did I do good Ms. Ralts and Ms. Vulpix did I?”

Ralts smiled lightly, “I thought that would work, you did very good Shii.  Though I didn’t quite expect him to react that strongly to his first gummy.  Then again most of us start on gummies we don’t get them introduced partway through whelphood.”

Vulpix tailwagged, “I wish I had gotten more out, but I didn’t want him to be stuffed.”  She smiled and padded over to the foxes, nosing Gleam softly, “That was adorable little fluff.  Do you think now you’ll drop you’re silly idea of not eating any gummies? Because right now for fire types it’s only you and your mother.”

Gleam blushed much more, looking between them, then at Shii, as he realized what she said..and that apparently she was in on it.  “Y..Y..you. You all set this up, e e even Shii not eating gummies? She was in on this?” He squeaked out, blushing much more.

Shii giggles, “Uh huh, ralts told us you not eat gummi, ever.  Cause whelp food from home not good. But said if you find out I stop eating, you’d eat as well, cause you would want me eat well.  So I agree say I not eat if you not eat.”

Gleam blinked more, blushing and scooting back against his mother.  Yeah she was coached into it, but he was tricked by Shii. She tricked him.  He could about die from embarrassment, and at that point found his eyes tearing up.  The food was good, but everybody was in on this. He was trying his best to not be upset, this wasn’t a trick played out of being mean, they were trying to help him.  But he was threatening to cry anyway. He saw Kencil perk up, felt a mental exchange and a moment later he was picked up by Pele, held close and shhhed, then cuddled and craddled.  And felt more buzzing.

Shii awed softly, said she understood and actually nestled in Pele’s lap.  Vulpix looked completely shocked, and then looked at him unassuredly. Shinx went over and nudged Vulpix lightly, and the two went off into the cove a bit to do something.  He looked up at Pele who shhhed him a bit, more, and he sniffled. He chanced talking a moment, hoping he wouldn’t overly cry, “m mental ma ma.”

He waited feeling that buzz and soon he heard mother in his head, “ _ Shh shh it’s ok honey mama’s here.  What is it my kit _ ?”

Gleam blushed, hiding his head in Pele’s fur.  He didn’t want comfort but, it already felt nicer at least.  “ _ Not what I was asking for mama but.  Thank you. Can you get shii too? Wanna talk without crying. _ ”

It took a few moments and he heard Pele softly start off, “ _ Hello Shii, are you used to mental communication? _ ”

Shii’s bubbly voice came over, “ _ Hello Ms. Gleam’s Mama.  Uh huh I’m used to it. Kencil just warned me Gleam was upset by the trick, so asked us to give him space a moment.  And she’s talked to me in the head lots of other times! _ ”

Gleam added in, “ _ Yeah, but I know she still has issues having more than one talk with her at once, huh Shii?” _

He looked down through teary eyes to see Shii perk up and look back up at him curiously, “ _ Nuh uh she can’t.  Wow Gleam you sound bigger here then you do out of here.  Sorry I made you cry, I not mean to. _ ”

He blushed a moment, hiding his eyes again, “ _ Thats, why I wanted to talk with you.  I shouldn’t be crying, no that’s wrong too.  Remember when you first went through tickle grass?” _

Shii spoked a bit quietly, “ _ Yuh huh, it felt all funny and weird and stuff, I didn’t know what to do, started crying.  You were real nice and helped me feel better.” _

Gleam smiled and continued, “ _ What happened when everyone else went through tickle grass?” _

Shii perked up, “ _ They all laughed and giggled.  You said everyone different, and it was ok I crying but also ok they laughing, nobody was mean to me, I just felt all funny an couldn’t take it.” _

Gleam nods, “ _ Smart girl.  You tricked me.  You, Vulpix, and Ralts all tricked me.  It was a big trick. One I didn’t catch onto.  I feel really embarrassed over the fact. But if I was bigger I wouldn’t cry over this.  I was just so embarrassed I started crying. You did good Shii, very good with your trick.  You helped me eat what I should eat. And showed me how silly I was for not eating it. Don’t feel like you did bad ok?” _

Shii giggled, _ “Ok Gleam I promise not feel bad.   But Gleam, if it making you cry. Don’t you say not hold it in?  Let it out, so feel better. Say important for a whelp. So shouldn’t you?” _

Gleam frowned, he taught her too well, and she already knows to apply what’s good for her in general, to others.  It’s just him and her for now and Pele. But he really doesn’t want to, not in front of her. He then squeaked as Pele rejoined the conversation.  “ _ She has a point Gleam, though you’re probably trying to figure out some way to squirm your way out of it, mama has you and won’t mind soothing her little crying kit.  I know you want to be happy for now, but if you just let it out it’ll be over faster.” _  Pele sighed for a moment as she sent over, “ _ I know you think you’re too old to cry over something as simple as a little trick that was good for your health.  But you aren’t anymore, both of us have been coming to grips with that dear. You’ve had to remind me how poorly you are at managing your emotions to get a point across.  So go ahead let it go. I’ll even stay mind to mind with you two, so you can talk if you need to.” _

Gleam’s ears were plastered against his head.  Now he’s got two going after him. And both are using his own points against him.  He really has only one last thing he can try. “ _ Yeah but, Shii don’t you always start to feel sad and cry when other whelps cry, if I get started it’d prob make you sad too.” _

Shii looked up, “ _ Ms. Delphox if that happens you ok comfort me too?” _

Pele smiled down warmly to the young morelull, “ _ I have no problem with that sweety.  I can even fit both of you into my arms, climb on up dear.” _

Shii made her way up while signalling mentally, “ _ Ok thats handled, go on Gleam, you want me be healthy whelp, I want you be healthy whelp.” _

Gleam sighed, check and mate for them.  He has no real answer, other than just being stubborn, but he also does not want to teach Shii bad habits.  At least he’ll have the ability to talk mentally. “F f fine I, I. I just d don’t r really like c crying too..m m much…”   And there goes any chance at talking sensibly, as the tears started flowing. At least he wasn’t wailing out loud, but his whimpering didn’t make him feel too much better.  Soon enough Shii was pushing herself up against him crying as well, while Pele held them both close. Content to just let them both let it all out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remind me to never ever write from Shii’s perspective again, until she’s older. Good gravy that was not fun. Because I had to write her out as wise and smart, but ignorant.
> 
> However she does have a good heart and is wiser than she should be. So while she might not know a lot of words and terms, she can still kind of understand things. There are reasons for that, and yes having a good whelphood might be part of it.
> 
> Also yes Pele does have serious issues being Gleam's mother, big one's at that. This won't be the last time either. As for Gleam, I'm unsure myself on how unhealthy his outlook is.
> 
> For the sake of explaining game mechanics again, the post game would probably feature raising/tending to whelps. For non-pokemon fans, why are you reading this? Anyway. The pokemon in the main game series can have variable stats, each stat can have from +0 to +31 at level 100 (I don’t care to write out how stats actually work..let’s just say it’s slowly gained over the 100 levels).
> 
> With this game, once you tend to whelps. Maybe starting with the trainer. How good you treat the whelps, which would include having a good minder, having the minder not be tired while minding them, nutritional value of food. And a few other factors. Would decide this “Internal Value” for the stats.
> 
> And for those who have played the games, how did Gleam get so many gummies? Take your pick, as I’m not sure right now. Either there is a ‘time limit’ on the day based on how many moves you take in a dungeon. And Gleam just burned through short dungeons, collecting gummies and running out. Or if only 1 dungeon a day, ran a gummi dungeon with multiple rest spots, stuffing all he had into storage at each rest spot. After the loss of Shii’s parents, the main character gains a detrimental buff that makes him immune to being tired of dungeons.
> 
> So if there are rest spot chests, why worry on a supplies shortage when returning?
> 
> They are part of what was lost when the evolved were lost. All chests not in town are destroyed.
> 
> Also hurray again for Gleam crying, twice this time. As I said he’s a ball of volatile emotions right now. I keep trying to write happy/fun things for him to be honest, but the characters issues leave him easy to upset. This time the first is obvious the second is, overstimulation, the embarrassment he felt was extremely intense and he just can’t handle it well. Which is what he tries to explain to Shii, he appreciates what they did, he just can’t handle it easily.
> 
> For the sake of it each gummi would taste like something representing its element, fire gummies are very spicy and leave a burning sensation that those who it is good for find pleasant. 
> 
> As per usual Comments are appreciated, even if I am writing all of this out more for personal reasons. It does excite me to see people enjoying/wanting to talk about my work.


	11. Sherry’s Whelp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vulpix spends some time getting to know the new Gleam. And makes plans to help keep him from being the center of attention.

Vulpix looked back at Pele, Gleam, and Shii for just a moment, then back at Shinx as the two walked off.  Kencil gave warning that Gleam might need some space, something about feeling an emotion too strongly. All she knew is one moment he looked disgusted at the idea of eating a gummi, then he was extremely happy, his tail wagging, then he suddenly was threatening tears after finding out their trick.

“Taran, what happened to him?  I mean yes, he’s a whelp, I expected that.  It was cute to walk in on him being bathed. And oh gosh seeing him enjoy that gummi was adorable.  But that whiplash right there. What happened to little fluff?”

Taran looked down, he looked back, then at Vulpix, “We happened.”

Vulpix earperked, “Wh, what do you mean?  Taran this is a bit..unusual even for you.”

Taran sighed, “I’ve learned a lot Sherry, and have more to learn.  Surely you’ve noticed everybody has stopped trying to hide the fact he’s human from me.”

She blinked a moment, “I, I Oh right we, we always figured you.”

Taran shook his head, “Don’t.  I know. Gleam trusts me for what I do, how I figure things out, not how smart I am.”

Vulpix sighed, “Ok fine, what do you mean we happened?”

Taran mewed sadly, “Pa, he always talked about humans, about trainers with me.  Said if I ever find one, to give him my trust and my aid. It would be important.  Gleam talked about how he died. Pa ordered Gleam to not save him, to leave him behind.  Instead he told Gleam to watch me, to train me, to be there for me. He gave Gleam the burden of caring for me.   Pa died a worthless death, trying to save someone, because he felt Gleam would be a better parent. Gleam feels guilty because pa died trying to save his life.”

Sherry sighed, “I’m sure he had good reason, trust me.  Maybe you’re just very important right? If anything you were important to him.” She shook her head, she wonders how much the cub had been taught about his role.  “But his death wasn’t worthless, he saved Gleam.”

Taran frowned, “He didn’t save Gleam, he gave gleam a burden, and sacrificed himself to do so.  Pa didn’t need to die. Gleam was having troubles thinking then, even as he has troubles now. I saw him have trouble in the dungeon on the way back.  Only Pele stopped him from making a mistake. And only because, and only because.” He shook his head, “It’s hard to describe the effects she has on me, on the three of us, Pele is very special.  Gleam and Pele had a command war. Pele won, overpoweringly won.” He stared at her, “Pa’s mistake was that he sacrificed himself to save Gleam from a Monster House, when they could have used the petrify orb Gleam liked to always carry.  And when I can talk with him again---”

Sherry frowned, “I, I think I need to hear more of what happened in the dungeon.  Pele’s effects on the three of you, what do you mean?” She sighed, ”You’re dad did what he could, please don’t talk badly about him.  Wait what do you mean when---”

Taran looked back at Sherry, “5 Deaths, 5 Deaths we knew nothing about.  5 Deaths that only Gleam and sometimes Flint was there to see. I now know my pa made him promise to take care of me, and ordered him to not save him.  We found out from Flint how Calad died, sort of. Neither of them can handle a full recall. But he also ordered them to leave him behind, while he sacrificed himself holding back those who would attack them.”

Sherry earfolded, “Ok what about it?”

Taran sighed, “Given the 3 others, and how he changed.  I bet Calad ordered him to watch over Ralts.” He looked at Sherry, “Sylveon dies, he’s suddenly taking more interest in the eevee brothers, hanging out with them helping them when they need it, and is acting guilty, and Flint said his bad nightmares started then.  Beware dies, he’s suddenly poking at you more than ever, cheering you as he can, helping to teach you moves and tactics .”

“Then Bella and Cray, Kencil says he feels strong guilt associated with their death.  He also took responsibility of Shii. I listened in when Kencil called you. I was curious when she asked me about his gummi habits.  How strongly did he try to make sure she had everything, what else is in her box. Did your dad, Sylveon and Bella and Cray get similar promises from him?  I bet they did. Wanna bet?”

Sherry paused a moment.  He just named the 5 old guardians.  What Flint said were the worse deaths for him, the ones that affected him most.

Taran perked a moment, and he looked down at a claw on a string around his neck, felt it a moment, then looked at Sherry a moment, “4 others, of course.”

Sherry perked, “What now?”

Taran shook his head, “Never mind, not important right now.  For talk later.” 

Taran growled, “But, all of those died.  So many died keeping him safe. Telling him he’s important.  Telling him to take care of their children for them. Burdening him more and more.  You ask what happened to Gleam. I repeat, we happened.”

He nuzzled Vulpix, “This a small cry, as long as he started, should be over and better by now, because cry is from overwhelming emotion, not actually sad.  Shii probably helped him. Come on back to Gleam.”

Sherry looked at Taran a moment.  What is up with this cat. And is he right, that can’t be just it, that the Guardians expected too much of Gleam.  That cat thinks in such odd ways, she can’t keep up with him sometimes. And yet Gleam often used him as an advisor, Gleam trusted him so much, and often used his insights.  She sighed a bit, he is one of the dungeon based guardians, his way of thinking being so, different, does make some sense.

She walked back with the cat, looking up to see Gleam getting his face cleaned, watching the Delphox.  She is the spitting image of what she remembers of Ena. And that cat said she’s had a strong effect on himself, Flint, and Kencil.  Then again she heard Pele refer to Kencil as little sister. Who is this Pele, she’s supposed to be a pokemon trained by Gleam from the human world, but then why is she having such a strong effect on them. Is it just the presence of an adult again, have all of them missed having an adult around that much?

She perked lightly as Taran spoke up to the delphox, “I think it’s best we have report finished now.” The cat lightly reared up looking into the delphox’s lap, “Hey Gleam, we all agreed you and Sherry needed some alone time.  So you get to do the reporting ok?”

She couldn’t see Gleam but definitely heard him whine, “Don’t you start that too.”

Taran looked up to Pele, nodded to her a moment, then Sherry had to hide a giggle as Taran scruffed the little fennekin and brought him over.  For his part Gleam yelped at the initial scruffing, then had very very wide eyes as he was set down on the ground in front of Sherry. “Please remember he can get cold easily.  So careful cooling yourself. Otherwise you two have fun.”

Vulpix sighed a bit, looking down to Gleam.  Gosh he looked so tiny. And helpless and, she shook her head.  He’s her leader, he’s supposed to train her, she shouldn’t think of him that way.  He stood up on slightly shakey legs, “O ok where do you want to do this? I mean this cove doesn’t have a lot of space, and I’m not sure if it’s be easy to sneak me upstairs.”

Pele spoke up, “And if he’s leaving this cove I’d like to be with him anyway.  As his mother.”

Gleam blushed a bit more looking back to Pele, then to Vulpix, “Y yeah what mama said.”

Vulpix sighed lightly, guess he’s keeping up good appearances for Shii.  But hearing the talk of Pele as his mother really makes her feel odd. She considers and started to walk ahead, “Come on, we’ll just do it in the blind behind the entrance stairs.”  She soon looked back and saw Gleam coming along. Needing to walk so fast to keep up with her pace due to his much smaller gait. She also notices he’s lagging behind her, following her, not trying to lead or walk at her side.  She gets curious and slows down to let him catch up, he also slowed down and stayed behind her. What has happened to her brave little fluff.

“Hey Gleam, come on up.” he perked and looked up as she stopped, and slowly made his way up and looked up at her, “I thought we were going behind the entrance?”

Vulpix sighed softly, nosing down at him gently, “We are, but there is no reason for my Team Exploration founder, and one of my current Guild Leaders to be following behind me like a subordinate.  Now come on, both of us, let us both walk that way.”

Gleam gulped a bit worriedly but walked along beside her while watching the ground.  Vulpix softly nudged at his side. “Come on you, pull your head up.” Gleam squeaked looking up at her a moment, but then tried to stop looking down, focusing ahead on the walk.

Sherry smiled a little bit, and now wondered, “Put your chest out just a little bit.  No reason to skulk along.” She perks as he responds, he at least looks proud enough. But she knows he’s only doing it because she asks.  This isn’t really him, just what he’s doing because he’s being asked to do so.

She sighed as they came to the small spot behind the ladder down.  It literally was just a tiny spot, not really private as it was just behind the ladder, but comparatively secluded for the cave, she allowed him to take the corner and smiled sadly, “Before we begin, Gleam dear why did you obey me when I asked you to do those things?”

Gleam blushed a bit, “Because you asked me to do it.  No other real reason.” he closed his eyes then sighed, “But that’s, not really and question you were trying to ask.”  He earfolded, “Whelps should listen to to those older than them. Is is is probably th the answer to the question you wanted to ask..”  He spoke trembling, a tear in his eye, but trying to be brave.

Sherry frowned, at least he was willing to admit the truth but she looked him in the eyes, “Then perhaps I will just use that mentality to at least make you pretend how you used to be, ok little fluff?”

Gleam gulped a little bit but nodded

Sherry smiled softly, “Ok Gleam let’s go ahead and get this going.  Report on, well honestly who did lead this party. The logistics from my side are messed up, so just do what you can.”

Gleam nodded, took in a breath.  “Founder Rockruff organized an expedition with members Raltz and Shinx.  Their goal was to rendezvous with new trusted member Delphox and her guest.  Reform the party to include her, and aid her in traversing her first dungeon with her guest.  Rockruff’s team managed to make it in time, though due to injuries sustained, emotions running high, including discovering the guest was a whelp.”

Sherry spoke softly, “Gleam…”

“It was decided that going back through the dungeon would be best held off till next morning, this also allowed Delphox’s team and Rockruff’s team to get used to each other.  At this point the party reformed around Delphox’s team. Line formation was run with Shinx as the lead, Delphox in second carrying the whelp..”   
  
Sherry sighed, “Gleam come on..”

“Raltz 3’rd and Rockruff last.  Endcaps were to use wands and moves to keep enemies at a safe distance and weak.  Ralts was on cleanup duty, Delphox was to attack aggressively. It was decided by the party, at the request of the whelp “

“Gleam.”

“That he be allowed to attempt to turret with a blowback wand.  Otherwise usual measures were in place, carried at all times possible, and protected.  On the final floor there was one incident of the whelp att-”

“ **Gleam!** ”

Gleam earperked at the sudden shout, yelping and jumping back, ears folding, tail curling between his legs, looking up worriedly at Sherry.  Sherry paused, her eyes widening a moment, then she frowned. “Oh Gleam.” She paused, “Little Fluff, what have we done to you?” She shhhed softly, perking as tears began to flow, she sighed and licked him a few times, “You aren’t in trouble Gleam, I was just upset at how you were talking about yourself.  You spat out whelp with such venom...” She nosed gently and sighed, “Do you need to let it out again little fluff? Go on, I won’t hold it against you..unless you’d like me to later.”

Gleam lowered his ears hiccuping lightly, “N n no I’ll be ok I, I just.”  Sherry sighed, then nipped him softly, getting a yelp of surprise and a soft crying whine.  She then curled up around him, lightly holding him still, holding nose to nose, “Can you nod or shake your head.  I have a question I want to ask, I only want a yes or no answer. So no need to talk, you can keep crying. Are you capable of that for me?”  Gleam nodded his head affirmative softly.

Sherry sighed, “I hope this doesn’t trigger too much, but I need to know.  I already heard from Shinx, Fulger got a promise out of you. Did my dad do similar.  A promise that you will somehow watch over or take care of me. Anything similar that?”

Gleam nodded his head, sniffling, then hides his muzzle up closely.  Sherry closed her eyes, “He’s right about that.” She frowned, “Ok sorry only one more time.  Calad and Kencil?” Gleam nodded again. “I want to ask two more times but, I think I know the answer.”

Sherry frowned, cleaning Gleam up gently, “Ok can you finish up what happened?  Do you feel up to it. If not I can find someone else.”

Gleam lowered his ears, “I I was hit by a whirlwind attack.  And through a teleporter. I was safe but trapped on one side of a monster house.  I stayed in place. Attempted to tell them to leave and come back fresh, with supplies.  My orders were countermanded by Pele. I should say, she countered my attempt to command, with her own commands.  And showed me that what I insisted was foolish, and she could handle the room herself. We headed home after that.”

Sherry ear perked, “She countered your commands.”  She blinked, “How could she.”

Gleam looked up tears in his eyes, “I don’t know.  She commanded all 4 of us. Yes myself and Flint.”

Sherry perked, “Gleam, you raised her right?”  She got a nod, “My word what did you raise.” Gleam looked to the side, ears lowered, “No I mean.”  Sherry just cuddled up close a moment, “I’m sorry Gleam. I know I can’t undo what dad asked of you but I can say this.  You can’t do it unless you get better yourself. Ok little fluff? Let yourself get better first.”

Gleam nodded a bit sadly then perked as Sherry spoke,  “Just don’t worry about trying to train, or watch over, or whatever you were asked anyone else.  Once you’re better, once you don’t freak out at the thought of entering a dungeon, once you can reliably pick back at me lil fluff.”  She winks softly, “Then maybe we can talk about you helping us train.”

She sighed, “But for now, you’ll be our lil whelp.”  She perked lightly, “And it seems like Pele’s child. I suppose it’s a good cover but are you ok with that?”

Gleam looked aside, blushing hard, “I ah..p please d don’t suggest we stop it..p please.”  he shuddered, “I It’s a long story. But but but a lot happened on the trip. You can ask Kencil.  But right now I, I, I need her to be my mother.” He looks aside, “I fell down that pit hard and still have yet to hit bottom.” he sighed, “It isn’t just a cover to me.  Rationally it should be but.” He whined in the back of his throat, “She’s my mommy. I apparently trained and raised my own mommy.” he looked up at Sherry who was starting to perk up definitely at that, “And yes I know how messed up that is.  Everything is messed up right now.” He looked back down, closing his eyes.

Sherry sighed, well if she wanted to make good on the whole, their little whelp thing, ‘I understand lil fluff, whelps need their mamas.  It’s ok.” She smiled, “Feel lucky you have a mama. Now come on.” She scruffed the small fennekin much to his surprise and slowly carried him back to the group proper.  Perking as she saw the Shinx and Delphox hanging out near each others, and Flint finally groggily awake. Shii rubbing up against Flint a bit and happily bouncing around him.

She has a lot to think on.  But yeah she can now see some of the scars he hid so well before.  Is it just he’s overwhelmed now, is it because he’s a whelp? Or is it because everyone is more willing to see him as fragile since he’s a whelp, and others actually trying to help has caused him to finally break to show what he needs.  She smiled as head’s turned to watch her carry the whelp, scruffed, back to them. He’s probably blushing decently. But she wants to set a precedent with him, the less he thinks he can be big and train her, the easier it’ll be to heal him.

She nods to the group as she sat, then set down Gleam, moving over him a moment later to keep him warm, so she’s crowding around him.  “Ok we have the report done. I have a few question on it, but I’ll speak with Kencil later.” She looks up, “Pele, we must talk later.”  She looks to Flint, “good to see you’re awake.”

She sighed, “Ok so, right now the guild leaders should be taking this over.  But you still look to be recovering Flint. And Gleam.” She sighs, “Honestly if you were stable enough even as a whelp you could handle being a guild leader.  But not right now.” She sighs, “I can’t pull any weight in the way of chain of command. But I will note it may be best if both of you stay away from leadership for a little bit.”

Flint perked lightly, “L..look I’m ok...mostly.  Just a bit groggy and waking up and--”

Sherry shook her head, “You, Kencil, and Taran just went through what we know as being one of the toughest dungeons around, twice.  And you have not been in a dungeon before this for..how long has it been? It feels like months? Has it been months? I think that alone is enough reason to say you 3 need to rest.”

Shinx perked, his tail wagging, “The return trip wasn’t that bad, Ms. Pele is very strong, as long as she didn’t get dizzy or something she could have probably done the dungeon, safely, by herself.”  He blushed, “Besides me keeping her away from traps, it kind of felt like she was protecting all of us.”

Sherry definately earperked at that statement, “Wait, it was an easy run through?  But that Dungeon it, it.” She takes a moment looking to Pele, “Was it that easy?”

Pele earperked and nodded, “I mean my reserves got a bit low on most of my moves.  And I felt a bit bad the others got hurt some. But other than the incident it was a kind of quick run through.  But honestly I’ve been, well, fighting for a long while, I had to, to keep Gleam safe.”

Gleam blushed warmly, looking down and Sherry felt him push into her body for a moment.

Sherry nodded softly, “So you’ve faced tough foes before, and you specifically faced them to protect Gleam?”  She perked curiously

Pele smiled, looking down to Shii a moment then nodded, “We did things differently there, the lack of any mystery dungeons but, a lot of wild pokemon who attacked just as harshly.  Though I wasn’t alone, there was a small group of us. But we all fought to keep others from being attacked. And other than that sometimes we would spar with similar groups to sort of see how powerful we were.”

Sherry hmms, “Right, well anyway, most of the official stuff is done so I’d like to relax for the night if you don’t mind.  We do have a party coming soon. Gleam I’ve taken note of the fact you don’t want to be overly noticed at the party. So I have an idea.”  

She looks up to the group, “I know you want to stay near him, Pele.  But it might be easier for a low key entrance if he’s with another whelp.  Plus you can start getting used to the town, get a chance to look around without needing to worry for your kit.  Our usual whelp watcher is relaxing for the day, but he and his little brother were both friendly with Gleam. And during parties we usually let the whelps hang together, watched by him.  If he’s already with the Eevee brothers it’ll be easier for him to blend in. And I’m sure the whelps would all be happy to see Gleam again, whelp sitting was common for him when given a vacation from the dungeons.”

Gleam for his part listened shyly.  Then ear perked, “See Big and Lil Vee?”  He blushed gently, this whole thing is getting to him more than he’d like. “I mean, you want me to go see Eevee and Little Vee?”  

Sherry caught the little stumble in speaking Gleam had and didn’t know if she wanted to smile at the cuteness, or worry for the pokemon she once knew.  She looked up at Pele and the rest then at Shii, “And of course Shii can come as well. I just think.” She sighed and looked down at Gleam, “I really hate to say this in front of you lil fluff.  But however young you are, I think you’re closer to Little Vee’s age than you are Shii’s. And Eevee will know how to handle you decently. With Shii there you’ll have access to ample enough food for yourself.  Shii has already said you can have all of her fire gummies.”

Gleam blinked a moment starting so speak, “But those were gathered for her--”

Sherry cut him off, “Gleam stop, reap the benefits of what you did long ago in an attempt to follow a promise you should have never had to make.  Honestly sometime when you are feeling better I want to talk to you about what you did for her. Like how in blazes you got the amount of supplies she has.  Sadly none of us can view them, only her and you. But the numbers she reports are large, assuming she tells the truth, how did you set her up with so much, and what else do you have waiting for her.”  She sighed, “But not now. Just, she has enough grass and faerie gummies to last past whelphood.”

“How about we confirm that Gleam?  Did you really get her around 500 of each ontype, and offtype that is best for her gummies?”

Flint earperks, “Five, five hundred e..each?” He looks at Gleam.

Gleam earfolds, looking down and whimpering a moment, “L, l, look. I, I just kept collecting them as I could, I didn’t have a goal beyond make sure there was enough.  So any I got that would be good for her I kept, any that wouldn’t be I tried to trade around. I can’t confirm or deny what she said, because stopped caring to count once once, once I got past one hundred of each.”

Flint sighed, “And, and this entire time I”  He shook his head slowly, “I never questioned it but I know you never ate them.”  The others look at him a moment.

Sherry perks, “It’s news to all of us, except Pele and yet..”

Flint shrugged, “He’s my partner, we talked, a lot.  We got to know each other pretty well.” He jumped off of the bed, slowly padding over, going nose to nose with Gleam.  “Now I know why you got so obsessed with gummies despite telling me you didn’t like them. My crazy little partner.” He nuzzled Gleam gently, laying down near the fennekin and vulpix.

She looked down at Gleam, nosing along his head, “She does not need any of the offtype gummies you got for her.  So at least consider it as you took the time to gather your own food for the start of your whelphood for goodness sake.”

Flint perked, “Wait hold on a second he will eat them now, like willingly?”

Sherry frowned, “Oh geeze I wish you were awake for it.  He thought he didn’t like them because whelp food where he’s from is apparently pretty tasteless and is designed just to be easy to swallow.  Shii helped us get him to try one. I wish you could have seen it.”

Flint perked, “I was afraid I’d hafta force one down his gullet myself, good I didn’t want my partner growing up weak.”  He nosed Gleam gently

Sherry sighed, “But back to the subject on hand.”

She looked up to the rest, “Would that be ok?  I’ll quietly take him strait to the Eevee’s. Me carrying around a stray whelp or two won’t attract too much attention, so if I’m quick it’ll be straight to Eevee’s.  Eevee knows how to take care of whelps, and his home is kept warm enough for young whelps, which I think Gleam might be. He wouldn’t need to stay near others, or have cover, and could let his legs stretch more, without freezing.”

Pele sighed, “I really want to stay near Gleam but, if this will make things earlier on him.  And this Eevee can be trusted. I suppose it can be for a small while.” She looked down to Ralts who nodded back up to her.

Kencil smiled a little bit, “Eevee kind of took over after his father.  He’s good with whelps. And while I know Shii and Gleam can play together a bit.  Another whelp similar to him could do him some good. Especially one closer to him in strength.”  

 

Gleam perked up with a soft lil gulp, “Mmmph similar to me in..in s strength?  L L Little vee?”

 

Kencil sighed looking to Gleam, “I’m sorry but I think Sherry is right, just from what I’ve seen of you.  Without any checking, I think you are probably a year at the most, more than likely under a year.” She smiled a little bit, “On the plus side I know you enjoyed playing with Little Vee.  You can go full strength in wrestling him now and not worry.”

Gleam looked aside blushing a bit more but nodded.

Sherry sighed, nosing the side of Gleam and hmmed, then idly put a paw on his side and gave a careful quick push, making Gleam flop over.  The kit yelping in surprise, squirming and looking up, Sherry grinning, “Yep little fluff you’re a just right pouncing target. And little Vee is at that age.  I think I see plenty of fighting in your future, just not in a dungeon.”

Flint chuckles softly, “Yeah all of us need to be careful around him.  Pouncing and wrestling is his favorite game ever. And if he knows you’ll play he’s suddenly pounce you out of nowhere.  Just hang around eevee enough and you don’t need to worry about forcing your own strength training partner, he’ll do it enough.”

Ralts perked at that, “Strength training?”

Flint looked back, “None of you really mind whelps so I never mentioned it.  But Gleam taught me a good goal of minding young ones..of raising a pokemon. Is to make it so they have fun training their body.  A lot of the games he came up with were also designed to get them ready for once they had their reserves and attacks. I know a few have mentioned Hoppip seems pretty strong and fell to using his attacks naturally.  And Shinx mentioned he had already learned some flying move, well before he should have learned any on his own.”

Flint hmmed, “Any idea Gleam?”

Gleam perked, “Ahh, if he kept up as I told him, probably Aerial Ace, easiest to tell is, did he never miss.”

Shinx nodded, “Yep yep, sure shot, always hit all the time.”

Flint chuckled and looked to Gleam, “But with Little Vee, he wanted to make sure the little guy had some decent body strength, and could use tackle properly once he was old enough.  So pounce and wrestle became a normal fallback. Pounce for tackling, wrestling for general body training. Little Vee just happens to love both games. So yeah if we just let Gleam hang around Little Vee enough, well, I assume you will be wrestling around with a bit, not just lay there defeated.  So you’re own training is decently started.”

Gleam groaned softly but nodded, “Ok..ok.”  He blushed, “We can go then if everyone is ok?”

Flint chuckled, “Sure just, one thing.  I know you like to tinker with the badges when you got some quiet time to do so.  Can you look and see what I’ve missed? Despite being a guild leader I’m still incapable of finding several functions.  And you’ve always been better at figuring things out.”

Gleam nods and yeeps as he was scruffed by Sherry saying, “Alright, let’s go before you find another distraction.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do find it interesting how Taran went from telling Gleam to not make light of his dad’s sacrifice over to complaining his dad died needlessly. Then again he saw the death and now knows they had a petrify orb. And well he has quite a different view.
> 
> Not a lot I have to say on this one. At least Gleam didn’t cry this time. I suppose I can say part of the point of this series, right now, is for everyone to understand they are dealing with a broken mon. Gleam does not need the reminders, it’s the mon he’s returning to need to understand, Gleam = Massively hurt.
> 
> So in other news I have Pokemon Let’s go, Eevee. Playing it and someones story they had inspired from it made them create a story based on Ash becoming eevee. It’s also inspired a story in me. So I want to talk about the future of this.
> 
> I’m separating out the epilogues of Terra Flare into about 3 books (right now). I eventually plan to rename this current one into something indicating it’s sort of a prologue book. This book will end with the party. I’ve already gotten that far, by the way.
> 
> A second book will be one focusing on Gleam. Tentatively titled “The Healing of a Whelp”. And focuses more on what he does, what goes on in his life, as well as other mon’s plans for helping him heal up.
> 
> The third book is right now titled “The Studies of a Spirit Talker” And will instead focus more on Pele and the Guardians, on their story, what and who they are, etc.
> 
> There will be some overlap, and I will be using this format to hide information until I’m ready to reveal it.
> 
> The healing of a whelp will be my main work, focusing on healing Gleam. I will post Studies of a spirit talker congruit with healing of a whelp, and only when it won’t be a spoiler. So I plan to continue my 1 post a week with healing of a whelp. And whenever the occasion is right you’ll see a story also posted in Studies of a Spirit Talker.
> 
> I may need to make/seperate out/etc at least one more book in the epilogues. One I tentatively want will be more of Anthology book, which will consist of several short stories that don’t really need their own full book, and will happen after the main healing.
> 
> With that said I plan to start up one more story, based more on Let’s Go Eevee, that will technically be in an offshoot of this universe. And I’ll just post a chapter each week I have one done. The connection to the Pokemon Guardian’s AU will be small. And it won’t affect this book, though I might mention some stuff from here for the sake of it. All I will say is that TerraFlare’s island is not the only guardian island, there are several. And the other book will feature a character who visited another guardian island chain.
> 
> As usual, thank you for reading my work so far, I’m happy to see comments, criticisms, and general questions on my stories. This is a work of passion but I do like knowing people enjoy the work, or have enough interest to at least comment.


	12. Meet the vees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gleam gets setup with the Eevee brothers, discovering a bit more about the elder Eevee than even he knew, as well as what all Eevee may have known.

Gleam just wiggled shyly as he was carried along by Sherry.  He’s actually scruffed by her, not just humiliating, but his arms and legs don’t want to work right, something about this has him partially paralyzed for the moment, he feels so helpless and small, to be carried this way.  But she was right, most aren’t paying her mind, the few who do just mention to her the fact she’s wrangling another whelp.

The town, what he can see of it, seems in rather bad shape.  A few key buildings are being kept up, inexpertly. The plants that used to be everywhere seem wilted or just missing.  Dry dirt and grass. Buildings falling down, it’s rather sad. And everyone he has seen running around has been young single evolutions, or the first stage of a multi-evolution.  It really was all the evolved, even middle evolutions for three stagers. He sighed then perked and looked up, seeing eevee’s home. Despite originally being the house of an evolved family, since late stages were so varied, it was built to look like an eevee.  

Sherry put him down and he felt a bit of shyness, he quickly went behind Sherry as she knocked on the door.  She grinned at him, “where are you going?”

Gleam just whined a lil bit, “E e explain the whole Celebi thing first please?”

Sherry sighed and nodded, then perked and turned back as the door opened, smiling as both Eevee’s came to the door.

Eevee perked, “What brings you here, I thought you were whelp sitting today?”  Little Vee perked up meanwhile, looking excited and Gleam realized why, peeking around barely like he was, left him exposed just enough.

Little vee giggled, “Big bro!”

Eevee looked down to him, “Quiet a moment, Ms. Vulpix is surely here for good cause.”

Sherry giggles, “I think he’s caught onto why I’m here.  One moment okay Little Vee? Then you can play with your new friend, I need to explain what’s going on.”  She turned to Eevee who looked more confused by the moment.

Eevee perked, “Ok I see you’ve got, someone hiding behind your tails, a whelp?”

Gleam gulped, he’d been spotted but not well enough, come on Sherry hurry this up.

Sherry smiled a moment, “Rockruff’s group came back from their secret mission.  Which is why there’s a bit of a small party being made.”

Eevee perked much more curiously now, “And this is related to the whelp in what way?”

Sherry smiled warmly, “Their mission was an escort mission.  They met up with a new member, and her charge. The party is for the two new additions to our little family here, well sort of additions.  Her charge, understandably, does not wish to be in the center of attention.”

Eevee perked, “OK wait a new member got added?  And this secret mission was her return. And I suppose she came with a whelp.  Ok I can understand not putting a whelp as a strong point of attention.” He sighed, “I suppose you want me to watch him then, and integrate him with the other whelps.  What type is, wait there was a specific request for fire type gummies. We have a fire type here again? Is the new member also fire type?”

Sherry smirked, “You’ve pretty well guessed it.  But the whelp is extra shy at the moment. As he wasn’t always a whelp he had a run in with Celebi that, well it had interesting effects.  He’s actually been a member all along, it was he who added the new member to TerraFlare. Which by the way, she’s a Delphox.”

Eevee suddenly perked up, his brain turning, “Wait, a Delphox?  That’s, that’s.” he takes a moment to get a hold of himself, “Wait you said the whelp has been here before?”  Eevee thought a bit more, “Ok Delphox, fully evolved pokemon, an adult, came here with a whelp who was here, is it possible has she finally--”  Eevee cut himself off, “No she shouldn’t be a whelp, wait you said Celebi which is right, but Celebi also brought--” he perks, “Wait has he finally come back, are they both here, is he where sh---”

At that point Gleam lost all sense of what the two were saying, he had taken his eyes off of Little Vee, his mistake he realized far too late, as suddenly he heard the little eevee shout out, “Gleeaaammmm!”  As he got pounced from the side and went rolling over with a yelp of surprise. A moment later he was trying to right himself and push Little Vee off of him, only to be met with playful bites, and realizing Little Vee was stronger than he thought.  He began pushing harder and firmer, kicking his legs at a few times.

Little Vee just giggled, “gotya!”  Gleam yelped and kept pushing and fighting, trying to get himself set upright, but at this point he realized he can’t go easy on the kit.  Not because Little Vee had gotten so strong, but because he was so weak. He began fighting with all his might, sending Little Vee toppling over in a fit of giggles, Gleam perked, and returned with a light pounce, not wanting to hurt the little guy, but he found he couldn’t even push the vee anywhere with that light pounce.  And soon he was toppled over again by the giggling eevee, who then laid upon him and began to lick rapidly at him, “Missed yew so much Gleam, but you all small. He he easier pounce.” 

Gleam at that point just gave a sigh and licked the little eevee and looked up toward the older Eevee proper.  Who looked confused a moment then smiled, ”Well well, Gleam has returned. A bit worse for the wear, but still back with us.  Ok let’s go in. I believe there is a story to this.” he sighed, “And Little Vee, really I take my eyes off of you for one moment, how did you even get that far outside, well whatever.  Let Gleam up, and leave him alone for a moment. I think there is a bit of a story to hear.”

Little Vee awwed but nodded.  Letting Gleam up, who softly shivered at the chill from having no-one on him, and quickly went inside, the little eevee following behind him.

* * *

It took awhile, but the whole thing with Flint finally got described to Eevee.  With Gleam the only one fully familiar with it, he had to be the one to relate the story.  But with 2 actual whelps in the room, and then Gleam as a whelp, it was easy to get distracted by one trying to cause trouble or another.  Finally Little Vee and Shii were sent to play in the whelp room of the house so the 3 remaining members could talk in peace, though there was much begging for Gleam to join them.  And things went a touch faster at least.

Gleam sighed, “And at that point we boarded Lapras.  I slept for most of that trip, and the part I didn’t sleep for Vulpix was on badge for.  We’ve spent the last little bit in the cove, just letting us recover from the trip. When I got word of a party honoring our return well.”  He earfolded.

Sherry sighed, “If you can’t tell Gleam is, not well.  He acts like he’s well, but he isn’t. And sorry to overtalk you Gleam but I can already tell you don’t want to admit this, but he needs to know, especially if he’s watching over you ok?”

Gleam let his ears fall more, “Yes ma’am.”  He then squeaked and blushed, why does he keep doing that.

Sherry shook her head, “As you can probably tell, he has some whelpish qualities to how he acts.  But otherwise his previous time with us took it’s toll. He has a lot of baggage that includes certain, incidents, and promises made during the heat of the moment.  As well as some general survivors guilt. And a few other, interesting things”

Eevee nodded softly, “Yeah that yes ma’am was definitely accidental, not just him playing along.  Ok so the Delphox, actual relation? Actually his mom or?”

Sherry looked at him curiously, “Yeah his mother.  When he was offered to come back here by Celebi he didn’t want to leave his family behind.  So the offer was made to include her. I’m not sure why he was made into a whelp though, maybe some sort of trick.  But to my understanding she more than pulled her weight. Anyway I need to see to preparations, but you already know why Gleam is being left in your care.  Nobody has had time to see to his age, but we think he’s at most 1 year. So around perfect for a playmate for Little Vee. You can grab some fire gummi’s from the guild stores, or ask Shii to grab some from her family stores when it comes to food for him.  She has plenty that will last her beyond whelphood.”

Eevee nods, “So be careful about company, re-introduce him slowly to the other whelps.  Anyone who sees him, give warning ahead of time that Celebi did something interesting to him.  And otherwise he might have a tendency to get upset easily and it’ll be hard to tell why unless you can read his mind.  Well I’m used to tough cases.” he thinks a moment, then looks down to Gleam, “And how often do you hold back hmm?”

Gleam gulped a little bit, “What do you mean ho, hold back?”  He looked up a touch nervously.

Sherry sighs, “All the holding back, he’s still setting into the fact he’s a whelp again.  But he’s holding back less than he did when he was more grown. I think that was part of his issue, a lot of piled up issues that he needs to actually come to terms with.  But will you be good?”

Eevee smiled lightly, “It’ll be fine.  Amusing he’s actually smaller than me for once.  But I’ll help him settle in and see to his needs.  But I think you had another reason for leaving him with me?”

Sherry shrugged, “If so, you’ll find out.  But really he seems around Little Vee’s age, and you keep it warm enough in here for a whelp who has issues with the cold.  And without his inner fire fully burning, he has issues.”

Eevee nodded, “Ok you go on and set up for the big welcome to Delphox.  And I wouldn’t mind meeting her, it’ll be nice to have a Delphox here again.  I was half hoping that would be you Gleam, originally.”

Sherry perked, “Oh wow, we hang out so little I forget you are one of us older ones.  One warning, she has reminded anyone who has met her, of Ena. She takes offense to the idea of replacing her, I think for Ralts’s sake.  She seems to give out her real name easily so if you must it’s Pele.”

Eevee nodded and perked with a slight grin, “Reminds people of Ena eh?  Well I’ll keep in mind not to.”

Eevee watched Sherry leave and sighed, “Ok Gleam unlike her I can’t scruff you.  But I trust you’ll follow me all the same. As much as I wonder if some of this is a trick, I can tell this whole thing with you being a whelp and you having issues is true.  She had to lead you through your own explanation, and had to make you soften up your self designation. She even did it gently, no playful insults like you two usually do. So yeah I believe how much help you need.  But you, me, we need to talk for a bit. So just follow me while I make sure those two are behaving ok?”

Gleam nodded softly, moving behind Eevee and ready to follow.  The eevee looking back in some surprise, “Ok wow, yeah, you really need help, you didn’t even think on that.”  he shook his head, “come on.” And he lead Gleam along, making sure on the two whelps, who were playing some odd game, Shii had found a bit of string and was leading Little Vee around to pounce and play at it.  Eevee told them he would be with them shortly and turned back to Gleam, “Go on back to the main room, get comfortable somewhere ok?”

Gleam nodded,”o ok.”  And made his way back, looking around, and sighed, “Can you settle in first?”  He blushed, a bit.

Eevee perked, “Oh I get ya.  Find somewhere to lay down first please.  Don’t worry.”

Gleam nodded, laying down on a soft rug, blushing a bit, and soon enough he felt Eevee lay down right next to him, sharing body warmth a bit, nestled up closely against and Eevee softly nosed him then sighed.

“Ok Gleam it’s just you and me.  Who is Pele really?”

Gleam perked, whimpering a bit ears lowering, eyes tearing up, “She’s my mama, really.”

Eevee earfolded, looking at him a moment.  “It really is that bad huh? Fine fine. Before you came here, whos was Pele?”

Gleam looked up, ears folding, “Wh what do you mean, o of course she was my mama…”

Eevee sighed, “She’s a fully evolved mon.  Humans don’t get transformed into fully evolved mons.  Though if you say your mother was transformed into a Delphox and in return you were made younger to even out the ages I might believe it.  But I get the feeling that isn’t true.”

Gleam blinked a few times then paused for a bit, “Ezelle?  Y You knew? How did you know, only a few in my own team know.”

Ezelle looked back at Gleam, sighing a moment, gently grooming him to help calm the whelp down a bit, “Father told me.”  The eevee shrugged, “He knew, from the first few days you showed up, amnesia and all, he knew you were human. Told me to keep an eye on you, if you needed any help to do what makes sense.  And to also learn from you.” The eevee laid his head down, lightly atop Gleam.

Gleam frowned and whined, “Ok seriously how many adults knew.  Somehow Fulger knew, only to tell me before.before..” Gleam shuddered and whimpered, “Mardav knew..”  “Even Lapras knows!” He earfolded, “I couldn’t get any help from the evolved, mostly because Bisharp didn’t think much of me because I told him and only him of the evolved that I was originally a human.  Thought I was making up stories, trying to seem special.”

He closed his eyes, “Now I find out that at least three evolved knew about me..knew about my origin?  I just..why..why not tell me. And how many knew in all?”

Ezelle sighed, “If I had to guess, at least 6 had to knew”  He softly nudged gleam, giving a bit more grooming, making the small fox squeak and shiver in surprise, “a at least 6?”  The eevee closed his eyes, “Gleam...I would like to ask you a few questions please. And I’d like to request something of you.”  

Gleam looked down, ears folding.  “Go on..”

Ezelle nodded softly, “First, please answer me who is Pele.  You’ve accepted her as your mother, I can see that already. But before that who was she?”

Gleam closed his eyes, “In the Human world many kids do this thing we refer to as a pokemon journey, it’s kind of a right of passage, and kind of a chance for the kid to be out on their own, and figure out where in life they fit.  Pele was the pokemon I was given at the start of my journey, and we developed a close relationship over it. She was my partner in the human world, I raised her from fennekin to Delphox. When Celebi offered to let me come back, I couldn’t leave the pokemon I was closest with behind easily.  Five of my core team encouraged me to go. Pele couldn’t stand to leave me, and eventually Celebi offered to let her come as well.”

Gleam blushed, looking down, “From there well, coming back here I’m a whelp and she..she.” he blushes, “She pretty much took care of me from the start, after a certain point I just, well, she became mommy.

Eevee nodded, “How do you know so much about pokemon.  I’ve slowly got to know your core team over time, and the way they talk of you.  You taught them moves, you gave medical attention to them, strategies, tactics. My team needed a 4’th for a job once, and Rockruff assigned Shinx to my team..”  He sighed, “I always knew him to be dopey, but the way he handled that dungeon. He ran through it, stopped us from entering traps multiple times, used items expertly, he could even go off on his own scout and come back safely.  Said you helped him with it”

Gleam sighed, “I studied for my journey.  I wanted to do all I could to train my team.  And to properly take care of them. If it was known a move could be taught, I learned how to teach it.  I know basic information on what is healthy for each pokemon, basic anatomy, what’s inside the body. I studied what I could of mannerisms and such. Signs of evolution being soon.”

Ezelle nodded softly, he sighed a bit, moving a paw around Gleam, closing his eyes, “So why return?”

Gleam frowned, “First, please understand, I didn’t know, this, would happen to me.  I figured I would come back as I was.”

Eevee smiled warmly and nodded, “Understood, about to evolve then, like Ralts huh?”

Gleam gave a soft whine from the back of his throat but nods, “Yeah pretty much.”  He perked as he felt the eevee giving him a few more licks to help him calm down some, he sighed, lowering his head slowly, just letting it happen, it embarrassed him some but he knows it’s normal for this to be done to a whelp, especially whiney ones, and right now he’s definately feeling overly whiney, “But..I wasn’t happy.  My original goal had been to find a group of pokemon that seemed to enjoy fighting. We have contests over there trying to find out who is the best at making a group of fighters. And do what I could to make them into champions, not necessarily the strongest, but instead an amazing team. I had a weird setup though, because of restrictions placed on gathering pokemon.  But I was making it work.”

He closed his eyes, “When went back..the contest just seemed too deadly.  Nobody who trains their pokemon to purposefully kill others is allowed in the contest.  But we are talking powerful moves, accidents happen. And well I had issues seeing myself as their trainer..or someone who was over them, i saw myself more as an equal..more as a friend, perhaps a leader at most.”

Eevee nodded, “Sounds interesting, I know some here, before..everything, would have loved the idea of a fighting contest, anyway perhaps you wanted to be their expedition team founder?”

Gleam nodded, “Something like that I spose.  But one day Celebi appeared, pretty much said he has another job for me, a sort of way to say thank you.”  he lowered his ears, “he wants me to help build society over here. Not save the world, not do some kind of great fight, just help rebuild after the destruction.  Said it was also a kind of reward..basically allowing me to be here with my other friends. And I’ve already told you about Pele, so that’s pretty much now.”

Eevee sighed softly, hugging Gleam softly, “So you really came back not just to see everybody, but to help with the rebuilding.  To help fix our society.” He nosed the young kit then smiled, “Then you probably shouldn’t mind your position as a whelp too much.”

Gleam earperked, “What do you mean?”

Ezelle gently patted Gleam, “You don’t need to be in a dungeon to rebuild society.  Yes I noticed you shivered at the mention of them. You don’t need to enter them. You already have everything you need, capability wise.  There are a few mon you must meet, and I need to explain something else to you.” The eevee sighed, “But we need to work on your own issues first, on the plus side.  The talk we’ve just now had shows me you’re head can be on straight when you aren’t having your own problems.”

Gleam nodded softly, “So, change of subject? You’ve gotten much more cuddly over time Ezelle, at least since the last time I saw you.  Or did you hide doing this with your brother behind closed doors? I mean let’s be serious, I know others saw me as, well, lacking in giving affection, but, you were kind of similar.  And now you’ve settled down cuddled to me, been getting near constant licks from you, and you’re the lead whelp caretaker too?”

Ezelle blushed softly, looking aside then back to Gleam, “I-it’s something that’s grown over time.  I’m enjoying being near others more often, now. I seem more in touch with others feelings.” He sighs a little bit, “But it’s stronger for the whelps, which I’ll remind you, you are.  Being near, nosing them. With those who have hands I long to hold them when walking next to.” He squirmed a bit shyly, “I’ve kind of taken to having nap time when I’m watching the whelps, be the lot of them all snuggled in with me.  It keeps all of them settled in and sleeping and just..it feels comfortable.”

Gleam earperked, listening curiously, “Hmm, oh my.  Do you happen to know how to use Baby Doll Eyes, or charm?”

Ezelle blinks, “You..you know what’s up?  And I use charm when dungeoning to keep the ranged images from being too rough on us why?”

Gleam nods, considering, “Would you mind terribly if I checked and felt over your body?  I think I know what’s up, but I want to make sure. And this is one of those things I can do that doesn’t involve entering a dungeon.”

zelle nodded, letting the kit go.  Gleam slowly stood up, starting to nose and feel along the vee’s neck and back...then at his ears, giggling a moment, “Have you noticed any odd itching, or felt any odd lumps on your neck or near your left ear?”

Ezelle perked his ears, “Y yeah that’s right.  Th-then you know what’s going on?”

Gleam nodded, “Eevee the evolution pokemon.  They have an unstable genetic makeup, that allows them to evolve due to outside stimuli.  Being near certain strong elemental energies, being in extreme cold, in a well wooded grassland, or just the strength of their bonds and affections for others can all cause an eevee to evolve.  The main purpose of this seems to be to react to whatever environment they are in, and then evolve in such a way that is best suited for their environment. While only 8 evolutions are known, it is believed more may be possible, the right stimulus just has not been found.”

Ezelle blinked a few times, then perked, “Wait wait wait, that’s a bit of what humans say about, us..about eevee?  But what does this have to do with what’s going on?”

Gleam giggled, “One more quick question?  Would you about say you love the whelps you’ve been taken care of.  Maybe just your brother, maybe the whelps in general? But still strong feelings towards?”

Ezelle sighed, ears folding, “Don’t tell anyone but yes.  Like each one is my own little brother or little sister. I hate to see them crying..or hurt or anything.  I wish I could do more to help them to soothe them. If I could pick them up, hold them, rock them like anyone with hands could.  If I wasn’t close to the same size as most of them. I mean you’re around the same age as my brother they figure, and you’re barely smaller than me.”  

Eevee earperked as he caught a tear from Gleam, “Shh shh shh shh, I I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.” he softly licked away the tear, Gleam squirming slightly and taking in a breath then standing up, “It..it’s ok.  Things seem to sometimes just cause that.”

Ezelle frowned and hugged around the Fennekin, “Vulpix was right, you really have been hurt a lot.  And here you are trying to help me figure out what’s going on with me. Why I’ve felt so odd lately.  And here you are ready to cry at a drop of a hat, do you even know why?”

 

Gleam looked down, “Honestly?  It’s how sweet and kind you are being, and also how quickly you’ve been forced to grow up.  All of the adults gone.” He closed his eyes, sighing and looking down, “And you’ve been nominated the main one to watch the whelps.  I recited what I did earlier for a reason. You’re body has been reacting to the lack of adults, the lack of any leader figures, as well as your compassion and love for the whelps.”  he sighed a bit, “In other words, you’re about to beat all the other un-evolved to not just evolution, but to a full adult body. Those itchy bumps are feeler buds, when you evolve they’ll fully form.  The same way my psychic organs will fully form once I become a Delphox. I asked about what moves you know because I suspected what you are evolving into, which requires you to know a certain type of move, in order for your organs to evolve correctly.”

Ezelle blinked a moment, then jaw dropped, “Wait no really, you can tell when a pokemon is close to evolving?”  Gleam nodded lightly, “And and you’re saying I should be next? But come on it should be Ralts, everyone has talked about how close she is to evolving.”

Gleam shook his head, “She doesn’t show signs of immediate evolution when she does I’ll know.  She’ll begin to show signs of the next evolution, the same way you’re showing signs of yours. But right now, for the evolution you are reaching, you just need something to trigger it.  I’d help but it can’t be forced, it comes naturally. It would even be useless to tell you what triggers it, as you may try to force it to happen, which can actually be counterproductive.”  

Ezelle blushed then looked up, “So, so you not only know the signs, but you know exactly what I need to evolve.  I...I hate to ask more but, this is important in more ways than you know right now. Can you teach me the signs for evolution, at least for all pokemon on the island?  Not right now, not all at once, but..but some time. Can you tell me my exact signs, everything that let you know?”

Gleam earperked, “In other words you’re wanting me to train you a bit..” 

Ezelle nodded a bit looking aside, “I shouldn’t ask but-”

Gleam shhs and closed his eyes, “I already promised Mardav I would, that-that-that was the la-last thing h-he said to m-me before.”  Gleam sniffed and shuddered

Ezelle frowned, moving to hug around the kit, “That’s right you were there, you’re the only one who knows but, he pulled a promise out of you.” he frowned as Gleam just sobbed softly, and was trying to gain control of himself.  

Ezelle didn’t want to do it, but he knew it was better for Gleam.  He gave the kit a soft nip, “Stop fighting it, I’ll do what I can to make you feel better.  But let it out. If you keep it in you just make it worse. Enough whelps have cried in my presence and made a mess of my fur, one more won’t hurt.”  The nip made Gleam wince a moment, giving a soft whine then finally he let go. Ezelle holding his paws around him, how he wished he had what it took to hold the kit.  But why does Gleam feel special, is it he’s human? No, it’s because Gleam came back of his own free will. He’s obviously been traumatized by this place, by everything he remembered, but he came back, willingly.  Because he wanted to be with his friends, because he wanted to help rebuild. And then this..this whole whelp thing happens, betraying him.

Ezelle nosed and licked soothingly, best he could as the kit began to wail.  He told Gleam to let it out, but this, the death of his father..it weighs heavily on Gleam.  What did Vulpix say, survivors guilt? He perked as he saw Little Vee and Shii look out, sighing and closing his eyes.  He can’t even help Gleam hide what he’s doing. He just stays close, rubbing, wanting to do more, wanting to soothe this whelp.  Wanting to soothe, he finally realized, someone he feels some kind of connection with. There is something more about Gleam, this kind human, betrayed to have this weak form.  He knows he can't right now but he wants to trust this little guy and do anything he can for.

Ezelle perked a moment later as the room began to light up, and he felt energy well over his body, he noticed the two other whelps going wide eyed.  The light was even enough to get Gleam to quiet down, though tears still flooded, he saw the little kit try to rub his own eyes. He went to reach to help, a glowing appendage came from his neck, lightly drying away the tears.  What was that, those were like dad’s...

Soon those ribbon like feelers began to instinctively take over, he moved back so as not to squash the little kit as he realized he was gaining in size.  His ribbons picking up Gleam, cradling him softly. And he felt energy, fairy energy pulse from the base of the ribbons, through them, over Gleam, the kit’s tears beginning to dry up.  Gleam watching more, letting out a deep sigh of relief. And finally the light about him began to fade. He moved Gleam in front of his muzzle and smiled, shifting one of his ribbons to tickle Gleam’s stomach, making him giggle and squirm.

Ezelle sighs, “I suppose a very strong want and need to hold, to soothe another might also be the final trigger hmm?”

He heard Little Vee...then thought and smirked, he can be Eevee now, giggle and call out, “do it again do it again do it again that was pretty!”  

Ezelle sighed and laughed, “Sorry Eevee, I can only do it once.”

Gleam yawned, blushing, “Actually, for sylveon, a need to go beyond what you can do, for one you love greatly.”  He blushed more, “Which means you...me? But..”

Ezelle chuckled, “I couldn’t help it, you were helping me and Eevee a lot before you left, I know you soothed him greatly when we lost, well, yeah, and now, now, you’re sacrificing a lot, more than you meant to.  Just to help all of us, and be with us. I just, I just, I wanted to hold you, to make you feel better, to keep you close let you know it’s ok.” 

Gleam nodded, “You wanted to help sooth me.”  He lightly rubbed a paw over the ribbons, “And thus you did a well known Sylveon trick, you used your fairy energy and ribbons to soothe me and help me calm down.”  He blushed, “Thank you, it..it feels much better than just crying.” He closed his eyes, “And while you’re soothing I, I’m sorry about your father.” Gleam looked aside, “I-I, if it wasn’t for how weak I was he, he might still---”.”

The sylveon shhhed softly, “He put himself in harms way to save you didn’t he?”

Gleam frowned, but nodded slowly, “He, he was the second sylveon to ever do that for me.”  Gleam looked up, “Please don’t be a third.”

Ezelle perked, “Second...you, you ha---”  He looked at the other whelps making their way over to check him out.

Gleam tailswished, ‘I-I don’t like to talk about it, you can ask Pele she was there, and I think friendly with her.  Though the two would compete for attention.” 

Gleam looked up, “I-I was a bit apprehensive about the idea of someone besides Pele watching me,  as my core group seemed very impressed by her capabilities and will probably want her help in dungeons, but.”  he squirmed a little, “Knowing it’s you watching and, well seriously, the fact I caused your evolution. I” he blushes a bit looking aside then back, “I honestly think I’d feel safe at least.”

Ezelle smiled, “Good, actually if you’d be ok with it, during those times maybe you can, well, train me?  The training I want is in how you get to know mon so well, treat their wounds, their sicknesses. Perhaps how to soothe their fears and worries, don’t need to worry about battling for me.  And I should probably explain to you some time something else. Why I want you to train me so badly.”

Ezelle smirked a bit playfully, “Maybe I’ll just start by training myself on healing you.  Now your stomach feels empty, how about you three get a snack, then a short nap before more whelps are brought over?  And I get to bring you all close to me, and actually hold you near me for it”

Gleam nodded shyly with a bit of a blush and yawned, “Sound’s good, Hey you can join the party, celebrate your evolution.”

The newly evolved sylveon laughed, “You aren’t the only one who doesn’t like being the center attention, I suppose unless it’s whelps.  I think I’ll hold that party with you three, maybe the other whelps. Now let me get you some food.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaknow writing far enough ahead you start to forget some things. On the other side writing far enough ahead helps you remember to properly put in foreshadowing. So yeah in the post game Eevee/Sylveon is the last of your main group who knows you were originally human. But he kept it quiet in the main game. He’d probably wind up being something of a hint/tip system perhaps, maybe someone who could provide basic supplies, or would suggest things to bring to your next dungeon. Basically provides a helpful service for those who might not be familiar with the game/area, but if you know what you’re doing you can ignore him.
> 
> Now of course you the player would be there for all of these tragic deaths I only barely hint at in these stories. And you would start to understand why you began to return the aid more and more, as well as do what you can to comfort Little Vee.
> 
> Technically Sylveon evolves based on how much they love their trainer. But I went for something more universal to allow wilds to also evolve. And yes Gleam is the type of person, or mon to win most mon’s hearts.
> 
> Most of the adults are standoffish due to Bisharp being something of a jerk, and most of the adults not wanting to risk his wrath, but as Ezelle mentioned around 6 fully evolved in all would probably know you were actually human. And would be a bit more friendly to you.
> 
> This revelation that most of the adults didn’t trust you due to bisharps actions probably puts some extra info on the earlier statement that Bisharps own actions, as recompense, made TerraFlare into the team with the guild leaders in it. And that specifically Gleam and Flint wound up the two shared guild heads, I’ve got a bit more to say to that, but I need to wait for a later story beat.
> 
> As usual feel free to leave comments. Junion signing out.


	13. Whelp About Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pele takes in the sights and sounds of the town, and meets a few there.

Pele softly perked her ears as she finally climbed up the ladder.  Part of her wonders why they have ladders when so many mon are quadrupedal or even have only legs no arms.  She figures Gleam likes the cove, but he hesitated at climbing the ladder, going down would be only worse. On the other side Vulpix had a pretty easy time of it, even with Gleam scruffed, and Shii didn’t get carried down.  Rockruff and Shinx both went up before her as well.

She supposed it works, but seems pretty impractical.  Now looking out, the ladder’s entrance is obstructed by a wilting bush, that seems like it receives a lot of attention.  Someone is trying to keep it alive. Well it was said almost everyone actually knows its location, someone who tends to the plants probably tries to keep this specific bush alive just for Rockruff, and now Gleam she muses.

She looks up upon the town, and finds her ears folding.  This place is tiny compared to most human towns, it reminds her of some of the smaller human villages.  And the buildings, why are so many of them shaped like pokemon heads? Beyond that she can see where some of the houses are partially destroyed, the grass looks unhealthy, other houses look like they are falling apart.  At one end of the town is a giant Bisharp helmet, and it is the largest building around.

She can also see what she assumes is Eevee’s house, it also looks rather large, but apparently it once housed a large family, well at least she knows where her kit is.  The way the eevee head is near one side of town, and the bisharp head is on the other side of town, she could almost swear the two are staring at each other in opposition.

There’s a large Bewear head, it looks pretty run down.  The mushroom of a Shiinotic, probably where Shii’s parents lived, from what she was told most of the whelps with no family were kept there.

A lovely Gallade’s head, a bit slender though.  Over there’s a Luxray. She considers what Shinx told her earlier.  The 5 main heads she looked for form a big circle within the town. Or a 5 point star, however one might look at it.  Makes sense if Shinx is right and they are the guardian houses. However she does not see a Delphox head anywhere, she would assume that would be the home of the old spirit talker.

Well how about other buildings here, she sees a few more heads of other pokemon dotting the land here and there.  There’s a more rectangular build she’s used to. The town seems designed on a circular design. With a town plaza in the middle.  She can see pokemon decorating down there, stalls lining outside of the plaza. Several of them half torn and worn.

At one point this small town must have been lovely and quite unique.  But now it’s mostly run down, Gleam was returning to help rebuild this place, now what can he do though?  If his head is on straight he could still tell mon what jobs to take, where to focus on rebuilding, he could talk to mon and help calm them down.  Apparently some had issues with starting to turn wild. What could she do to help rebuild her kit’s loved town. She needs to find someone who knows this whole spirit talker thing.  Fulger seems to know some of it. But Shinx needs him right now, whenever he can be around anyway. She still hasn’t recovered that spirit summoning ability, shame it’s a one shot per recovering it seems.

She perked as Kencil contacted her mind, “ _You ok there big sis?_ ”

She smiled a little bit, maybe it’s not just her kit she wishes to help, “ _I’m fine sister I’m fine.  I’m just taking in where we are.  This is a quite, unique, looking town.  A shame it looks so poor and worn down. And I suppose I was wondering what I could do to help, Gleam won’t be in much condition to do it.  What could I do in his stead perhaps_ ”

Kencil nodded then smiled, “Come on there is still some time before the party.  We might as well let one of the other higher ups in the guild know at least part of the surprise.  Rattata is probably still dealing with the kits. I still can’t believe Vulpix got him to agree to that.”

Taran shrugged a bit, “He has changed, he understands how important this was to her.”

Kencil nodded, “Anyway we’ll go quietly, just head over to the Shiinotic household.  But I’d say go around the party, just so we don’t spoil who the surprise guest is.”

Delphox nodded, it was somewhere past noon she could tell, they had managed to exit that dungeon around noon, but without any of those fancy clocks or stuff humans had she really didn’t know the current time too well.  But it’s about halfway till night from noon if she had to guess. So the party should be soonish she guesses, she doesn’t really know how things here go. Having seen how the town is she knows she shouldn’t expect too much already, this party is just as much to help the town cheer up, as it is to celebrate Gleam and herself.  Which she just realized it’s gone from a party about Gleam to herself being the center of the party.

She hopes he’s doing ok, she could use the badge to check on him but for all she knows he’s getting a nap or something.  Besides maybe this is the chance he needs to actually consider their relationship. Away from her, away from constantly being treated the way she treats him.  Perhaps he can stop thinking of her as mommy. She shakes her head wiping away a tear, and keeps making her way along.

Ralts gets her head in, “ _You ok big sis?_ ”

“ _You would catch me doing that, yeah I’m just thinking about the fact being away from me for a bit might be best for Gleam.  I hate what I’ve done to him. He’s gone from trying to be independent, asking to be put down to walk on his own, and wanting to eat food by himself to.  Well, you saw him in the cave. He was stunned when you put him down, came back quickly, and once I picked him up he settled in my arms or lap and never even tried to leave.  Vulpix had to tell him he didn’t need to follow her. And once I picked up the gummi to feed him, he let me do it no questions asked. And when he was being carried around by his scruff, he didn’t even try to fuss or stop it.”_

Ralts sighed softly,” _You’re still on that.  That’s been spinning in your head for quite awhile.  Sis, you didn’t do all of that to him. For one that’s been a shared effort.  Two, he’s a whelp, he needs that extra attention. Come on he’s mentioned some of it to you before.  He stays in laps and being held because his inner fire is still weak, he needs more sources of heat. That’s part of why eevee’s was suggested and not straight with the other whelps.  Eevee’s little brother is also a young whelp who, while energetic, can get cold easily. That house is kept warm for that whelps sake, Gleam can just take advantage of it as well. And Gleam did get along decently with the brothers otherwise.”_

_“But I don’t think you’ll get what you want.  I’m sorry sis but he’s already your kit. He’s tried to tell you this a few times.  And honestly there was no hope to catch on to it at all. There was no way I could stop it even if I tried.  When you pointed out that bond was gone, when you said you no longer trusted him. When you not only disobeyed his commands, but countered them, and commanded him.  All of that was multiple blows to him at once. He didn’t just have his heart break, it shattered into pieces. Plus he already knew he was a whelp, you just helped drive home that he had stopped being rational.”_

_“The moment he was told he could move and talk, his immediate reaction was to reach to you, to want to regain that bond.  If in that dungeon you hadn’t told him to hold still, he would have run in after. You and him, both had a strong relationship before coming here.  The problem is with him being a whelp you two are being forced to restructure it. He’s been forced to accept he’s a whelp, he sees no way possible to be your equal.  You’ve already promised to be his caretaker, the jump to parent, especially as he’s the young of your species, was obvious. I wish I had been paying more attention, I would occasionally feel spurts of happiness and pleasure, yes pleasure, from him that he immediately tried to push away and ignore.  I was confused as to why. But now I know, I just didn’t put together all the clues.”_

Ralts sighed _, “He gets excited, happy, giddy, and feels pleasure whenever you refer to him as your kit, your child, or your anything.  I honestly won’t be surprised if the opposite of what you hope happens. And he winds up with separation anxiety. He very very strongly wants to be yours, and you to be his.  He wants that close personal bond. Which is why he reacted so strongly when you offered to give him an out. To him that wasn’t an offer to fix something heat of the moment, that was flat out rejection.”_

Pele sighed _, “I wanted this to be his choice.  I’ve taken the choice away from him.  It’s also the sudden change I’ve seen in his behavior.  He’s crying so often, he’s started licking us some too now.  He’s so subservient to us.”_

Pele considered for a moment _, “I just didn’t expect him to start acting fully like a whelp, and it keeps triggering that whole thing I complain about.  Where I just know how to handle him, I just know whats right which, reminds me and I want to change subject anyway. All these houses are..oddly pokemon shaped, you said Ena.”_

She paused _, “Why does that feel so wrong to name her.  Anyway, you said her house is still here sealed, I don’t see an obviously Delphox house or similar around here.  And I’m noticing a pattern that does not leave an area for a Delphox house anyway. So which one was her house?”_

Kencil _nodded gently, “It isn’t just you if it helps.  We’ve all treated him like a whelp one way or another.  Shinx is the one who convinced him. Rockruff slept around him to keep him warm, and showed us that sleep feeding trick.  I’ve tried to do what I can mental communication wise to encourage him slightly. Vulpix just right out scruffed him and carried him around.  Morelull helped get him to eat what he sees as whelp food, and she wants to play with him as a fellow whelp now. And has already talked about doing stuff with him once she leaves whelphood._ ”

_“As for mom’s house.  She actually opted for the rectangular one.  I know it looks kind of small but most of her home is underground.  It’s built very oddly to be honest. Hopefully you can open it and then you can see.  I think you are drawing a little bit of attention, we’ve dodged most of the crowd but some seem to be looking in on you here and there.  Well we are almost to Shii’s house anyway.”_

Pele looked around slightly, noticing one mon or another looking her way.  It’s a bit rare, but she wonders how the rumor mill goes in areas like this. Pretty sure she won’t be a huge surprise.  She looked up at the giant mushroom cap in front of her. The opening covered by a simple drape. On in Ralts, Flint, and Shinx went, so Pele followed.  Once inside she could hear a noise, many young voices talking and giggling amongst each other. The room layout was kind of odd, the walls curved, kind of egg-shaped-ish for the room, with large wide openings to other rooms.  Seems the rooms were made in a circular pattern around perhaps a middle main room?

Ralts asked her to stay behind as they entered into what she thinks might have been the central room.  So she stayed next to a doorway and listened. The sound of young mon was right on the other side of the opening and she smiled as she heard several young voices call out Flint’s name.  Then some Kencil, and more than a few giggles out Taran’s name. Several questions all at once, with promises to talk to them later, but they need to talk with rattata. Who she heard next, she had heard his voice that morning some so she knew it.

Rattata, “About time you three got back.  Yes I know you’ve been here awhile, Vulpix snuck off leaving me with the whelps to see you.  Though I expected to see a 4’th member among you with all the goings ons I’ve been hearing. But you look in chipper mood so it isn’t all a loss it seems.”

Flint came up next, “It’s, it’s a rather long story.  Our mission was 100% a success though. Since you’re pretty high in the rankings we figured we’d give you a heads up at least.”

Rattata, “So what I suspect is true then, he came back somehow?”

Ralts spoke up next, “It’s, complicated.  Very complicated. But yes he came back, as you know Celebi is the one who brought him here originally, and the one who took him away.  Apparently Celebi saw fit to, do something other than give him amnesia this time. He’s rather, well, in poor spirits due to what happened and doesn’t even want to join the party, or for everyone to know all at once.  He’s right now over at Eevee’s hanging out with the brothers and Shii. So unless anyone else visits Eevee, the whelps will be next to see him.”

A young voice spoke up, “See who Ms. Kencil?  We have a new visitor?”

Shinx decided to speak up, “An old friend littles.  But he’s had a big trick played on him. Made it easy for him to get sad, as he didn’t like the trick from Celebi.  So when see him, try to not make a big deal of his change ok?”

“Who Mr. Taran who?”

He spoke up again, “Gleam.”

Soon shouts of Gleam came among all the whelps, giggles, some awwing, some talking asking what happened.  Though all of them wanting to see Gleam again. She perked as one spoke up a bit louder, “Big bro big bro can I see Gleam too can I can I pleeaassee?”

Rattata spoke back up, “You can see him when all of you go to see Mr. Eevee.  He’s there right now, apparently recovering from whatever all of you need to be nice about.  Though now I wonder what we are going to do with a party with no guest of honor.”

Ralts came back up, “Oh we still have a guest of honor.”

Rattata, “Wait, you’re group came back with more?”

Ralts, “Yes, Celebi was kind enough to send Gleam back with someone who could keep him safe after, the trick played on him.  Ms. Delphox if you will, please come on in?”

Pele started to make her way around as she was asked to come in.  She heard Rattata started to stutter out her name until she walked past the doorway.  Before her was quite a sight. Around a dozen or so whelps, half of them grass types, she saw one sandshrew, a Kanto one that is.  A whelp Kanto Rattata, and a non-whelp alolan Rattata. The other whelps were mostly normal typing.

The gasp in the room was sudden, “An evolved?  An adult? Gleam has a mama? A mama? A mama? Mama?!!!”  And she soon found herself rushed by the excited little whelps, she gently knelt down and smiles warmly, “Hello little ones.”  She also nodded to Rattata with a smile, “I’ll apparently be the guest of honor tonight.” The whelps all giggled, “A grown up!”   Pele sighed and smiled, “Yes sweeties, can I have some time to talk with Mr. Rattata?”

In all honesty this was a rather poor sight before her.  They all looked slightly underfed, some of them with tears upon seeing her.  They clung near but nodded and quieted down, she smiled warmly and after some thought sat on the floor carefully, a moment later she had whelps all snuggled up against her, even the rattata whelp dared come over and sat in her lap.  She looked up to the older rattata while she gently pet over the younger ones, just finding one way or another to sooth them.

She smiled to the older Rattata, “I know you’re officially on duty but you can come over too if you wish.  And pleased to meet you my names Pele.” She perked in surprise, as a moment later the older Rattata had large tears in his eyes, skittered next to her, climbed up her body and settled on her shoulder with a shiver, digging into her fur lightly and curling up.

She blinked a few times in surprise, then looked to the rattata, rubbing her head against his body, while petting the one in her lap.  She gently raised her inner heat to warm up all the youngsters and she looked to Kencil. Who looked rather surprised, “Kencil dear, how popular was Ena among the young ones?”  She sighed feeling tears from the rattata, rubbing along his back, and oddly this doesn’t feel unusual to her, like she’d seen it before.

Kencil spoke up in her mind, “ _Oh right, I..oh wow no wonder he was so harsh on Gleam.  Right Rattata lost his mother when he was young, a lot of adults couldn’t stand the little trouble making dark type.  Even Sylveon had his issues with the kit. But mom would often soothe him for the short time she was here after that._ ”

Pele hummed softly closing her eyes, she carefully reached out bringing in Shinx, then decided to stretch her muscles and bring in Flint as well, “ _That got all 3 of you?  Good. So now that we can communicate without disturbing them, back to what I was going to ask._ ”

Kencil cut in right quick, “ _You can already do a 4 way like this?  I-sis, this takes so much training.._ ”

Pele continued humming to the kits, sighing mentally, “ _I guess you were too busy paying attention to my age to catch the rest of it.  Kencil dear, the team Gleam made, we took on legendary pokemon. I’ve personally bested an Articuno, went head to head with Mewtwo that was rough and was a team effort, melted a regice..and really I feel like bragging if I go on longer.  I have a lot of training, it just happened in the human world not here. Bringing in more pokemon is just figuring out how to juggle it and keep track of things. Now where were we?_ ”

Kencil shivered as she listened, “ _Ok fine I’ll try to remember, highly trained.  Umm you wanted to ask a question after finding out about Rattata’s past.”_

Pele thought, “ _Oh right, then what about this young rattata that calls him older brother?”_

Shinx came in for that one, “ _His dad found a new lady to be with, a normal rattata instead of a dark one.  So half brothers, but they’ve bonded over time.”_

Pele sighed, “ _Ok I think I know what I’ll be doing until the party.  It’ll let me stay hidden too. Whelp sitting doesn’t sound like a horrible job anyway, what about all of yo--”_ She perked as she watched Kencil shiver a moment, “ _You ok little sis?”_

Kencil nodded, “ _Sorry I haven't had that happen in ages.  Felt a sudden upwelling of fairy energy. It’s something that happened rarely in the past.  I’d feel a large upwelling of one type of energy or another. I don’t know what it means. Sometimes it’d be two types at once.  But My dad always told me to ignore it.”_

_“Ok lil sis.  Though if you’re feeling such things it probably means something.  Anyway what will all of you do since I think I’ll watch these small ones until the party.  They seem to want an adult figure right now.”_

Flint smirked, “ _You’ve taken Rattata out of the picture, I figure I’ll finish up any guild duties he was working on.  Surely a few stragglers still have yet to report. Otherwise I don’t want to bother the whole thing going on, but I want to check in on Gleam badly.  I’ll probably at least buzz Eevee’s badge sometime.”_

Pele nodded, _“I’m, trying to not worry about him myself.  But both of us want to be near him huh? He’s probably ok, I hope.”_

Shinx perked up, _“He’ll be ok.  He was becoming friends with both of them, and did a lot to help the younger eevee deal with the loss of his dad.  Besides given what Vulpix said, and what we’ve figured out. I think he’s another guardian, and may be searching for us.  If he knows Gleam is human, he knows how important he is to keep healthy.”_

Shinx closed his eyes, “ _I think each Guardian is different too.  Pele is apparently a backup Guardian, her role is to be able to take over for other Guardians if needed.  And be able to enable teaching of Guardians if previous is lost. Such as how she is allowing my father to teach me my roles.  You might also think of your role as a keeper of knowledge.”_

_“If Eevee is taking over Sylveons role.  Sylveon often stayed in town, he only went adventuring if his specific abilities were needed.  Otherwise he sometimes helped Bella with healing physical bodies. But mostly he did a lot of the work with making sure people took enough vacations, relaxed..”_

Pele suddenly cut in, “ _I really am starting to hate Celebi, the Guardians are seperated into two dungeon guardians, who specialize in different ways of manipulating and managing dungeons.  And three town guardians. Two of them deal with the health and wellbeing of the townsmon, one of them overlaps to give two who deal with the town itself, resource, repair, structures, etc.  There is finally the wise guardian, meant to aid the other guardians in making decisions, a keeper of knowledge and learning.”_

Flint blinked a bit, “ _This was more of that thing you mentioned, sudden knowledge?  Ok if you are right, then I need to find out who all possible guardians are.  They sound important and I need to know who all I should keep away from extremely dangerous tasks, unless they are explicitly needed.”_

Pele smirked a bit, feeling around some of the whelps a bit, rubbing over them very gently, “ _Shinx thinks he has them figured out.  Based on those whose death’s affected Gleam and changed his behavior.  More than likely they asked him to watch over and train their replacements.”_

Kencil perked, “ _So that gives us.  Sylveon and eevee who we already suspected.  Beware and Vulpix? So she’s a guardian then?  Shii as a guardian? She hasn’t even left whelphood.  Shinx knows he’s a guardian that leaves one more.”_

Flint waited a moment then blinked, “ _Oh right that was never confirmed.  I..I..right soon after that.” he shuddered, “Kencil that leaves the final one being Calad and you, I personally know that he asked Gleam to watch after and train you.  Oh geeze I took two of you with me through that dungeon we barely ran through to get to Pele.”_

Kencil paused _, “I, no, wait really?  But he never spoke any of it to me.  I know nothing about what I should even do.  I only heard my mother speak of being a Guardian, and Pele already has that role.  But if father had one to give me, why was I never told? Not even started?”_

Pele shook her head, “ _No idea, but now I know I need to go back through that dungeon with you sometime, I get the feeling I need the next guardian with me to free a previous spirit.  And it’s important to do this for another reason.”_

_Kencil closed her eyes, “I can already guess, Gleam won’t talk about any of these deaths.  And Flint you are trying but still can’t do it. But if you and me both go, we can see what happened.  And you personally will be able to go to each of these Guardians and see what affected him. We should hold back on Shii’s if possible, let her end whelphood first.  I know even back then, talking at all about what happened to her parents made him go quiet, and guilt clouds his thoughts immediately.”_

Flint shuddered but nodded, “ _Right enough, I..yeah that’d be a good way to find out if, if I’m still having problems.  Maybe take a few days to settle in first, see if we can learn more. For one how many know we were missing a guardian?  Kencil and Shinx both of you said before your parents had complained about the missing spirit guardian. What have Vulpix and Eevee been taught?  Was Shii told anything?”_

Pele perked, “ _Can anyone get to the food stores?  I think they could at least use a snack.  I’d get up but I think I’d wake them all up.  Otherwise how about one more? Why do none of you know that much of each other?  Kencil you’ve never been told, Shinx you knew your father. None of you seem to know Vulpix and she hasn’t talked back.  Eevee is unknown among you two. And neither of you know about Shii. There might be a reason for the separation of knowledge.”_

Kencil, Flint, and Shinx got up to head over to one of the storage boxes while Kencil kept up conversation, “ _Maybe, or it might just be each parent decided what they wanted to teach.  For all we know Eevee or Vulpix might have been taught more and already know about all of us.  Or they might be like me, not even know what their role is supposed to be._ ”

Pele smiled warmly as the others brought over food and began to help feeding young pokemon here and there with the help of others, “ _Ok I know Vulpix wants to talk to me sometime.  And I should meet Eevee anyway, wait the badges were broadcasting when I summoned, she probably heard that.  She may be suspecting something about me already. So for the time being you two continue as normal, I’ll see what she wants to talk with me about.  And I’ll talk with Eevee as well, maybe go over and drop off the whelps before the party, at least say hi. And I can easily say I wanted to meet him since he’d be watching the whelps and I wanted to check up on Gleam which, yeah, I want to anyway.  I’ll share what seems sensible with you three, as there might be a reason for the separation of knowledge.”_

Flint nodded, “ _Ok I’m going to head up front proper and deal with anything left.  Let me know if you need me.”_

Shinx shrugged, “ _I’ll help with the whelps, we can also catch you up on the town more.”_

Kencil nodded, “ _Sounds like a good idea, help you get more used to this world.  Though sadly only Gleam knows some differences.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s the town, I swear everybody seems to know about Ms Ena huh? But anywho meet Rattata, for most of the early game he would be something of an antagonist, bothing you, getting in your way, just the starting troublemaker. But you make amends with him in the end. There might be more to his reason for being a pain in the butt than stated..
> 
> And yeah Pele and Gleam is still a re-occurring issue for Pele.


	14. Meeting Again for the First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whelps finally meet the new Gleam, momentarily. Pele also meets the main whelp caretaker who seems to know way more about Pele than he should...

Shii looked over to Gleam curiously, he was bundled up near the door, still drowsing softly.  They had finished their nap and Sylveon was wanting to keep quiet on his evolution, let Pele have center stage for now. The two were waiting for Mr. Rattata to come over with the whelps, Shii was gonna get to do big mon stuff.  She would talk with Mr. Rattata and welcome him and the whelps into the house, and try to talk Mr. Rattata out of seeing Mr. Sylveon. Gleam was gonna be there to help, give suggestions and ideas, and be a distraction.

Though she worried some, Gleam was shivering, she wanted to be next to him, hope he feel better, but Gleam said not worry he ok.  But Shii was not sure. Others, taught her lie to play trick on Gleam, help make him be healthy whelp, lie to do good. Is possible Gleam lie and is not ok, but not want others know?  Shii looked up as the door was knocked on, she moved over and opened it carefully then looked up in surprise.

Shii smiled, “Hello Ms. Pele!”

Gleam immediately perked up and his blanket wiggled from his wagging tail, “Mama!”  He blushed a moment later.

Pele for her part looked down with shock and then smirked, before perking as she heard Gleam, “Ok I heard my kit, now where is Mr. Eevee hmm?”

Gleam perked up immediately at that and blushed, making his way over to the door to look up, “Um I..h.” he went wide eyed, as he realized Pele was here to deliver the whelps, seeing elder Rattata on Pele’s shoulder, and all the other whelps were crowded around her dresslike fur, keeping in its warmth.  And he had just blurted out mama like a little whelp.

He pretty much heard a chorus of different whelps and Rattata as they realized who it is.  “Gleam? Gleam. Is that..Gleam? Gleam? Gleam you’re so small.” he soon found himself being crowded around as the whelps came in to check him out, giggling a bit.

He squirmed softly as Pele spoke up, “Now remember to be nice little ones.  He’s a touch shy about the trick Celebi played. And I don’t think he expected to see all of you here with me.  So remember how surprises you might not really want, feel.”

Gleam took in a breath, “Um h hi guys I ah.”  He tensed lightly as he was soon nudged, licked, rubbed up against, and yelped as a few butted him playfully and he found himself knocked over, holding back the urge to whine, especially as they started to nuzzle him happily, peek under his blanket, rub through his fur, making him start to shiver, they were used to him producing a lot of warmth.  He started trying to get up, shivering more, “g-g-guys p-please a-a m-momen---”

Pele perked, smiling at the kits being playful and happy to see him, but frowned lightly as she heard his distressed voice, she knelt down next to them, “Little ones, don’t overwhelm him.  Come here Gleam come to mama.” And with that said lightly picked him out of the group, shhing as she lifted up the cooled whelp, holding him to her warmth a moment.

Shii meanwhile bobbed to the other whelps, “We can all play later, but I here lead you to whelp room.  The brothers are dealing with stuff together, so Gleam and I meet you here instead. Come on. Games being set up!”  She started to lead them off, while Pele and Rattata started to follow.

Gleam took a bit of a breath, shuddering a moment, “I, umm, momma, rattata.” he blushed much more, and tried to keep control of his speech ears folding, “I mean..” He shook his head, “Th, there has been a bit of a minor issue.  Nothing m-major but he doesn’t want to take away from the party. Has re-requested just the whelps for-for now.” Gleam considers, “It’s nothing bad, i-it’s actually really good but-but he wants private time for now j-just him and, well, us whelps.”

Rattata perked, climbing down from Pele’s shoulder into her arms with Gleam, the kit blushing more, looking up at the rattata, doing his best to move to be slightly more presentable, looking to him shyly, as Rattata spoke, “I was wondering what could cause you to be too shy to be seen, I suppose I can see how this would do it.  So Eevee is too busy to see us hmm?”

Gleam mrrfed uncomfortably, looking up at Rattata as he came closer and spoke then nodded, “It’s, it’s complicated, I just.”  He started trying to get up then acked as Rattata pushed him back down.

“Don’t strain yourself.”  The rattata looked him over sighing, “Yeah I suppose being a whelp again could be kinna embarrassing.  Though on the other side now I’m under a whelp in status, seeing as how you’re my guild leader and team founder.”  He ruffled Gleam a bit, “Just calm down for the moment kiddo, we already have our amends, besides.” He blushed looking aside, “I wouldn’t want to make your mom unhappy.”  He nosed against her chest, “I-I’d rather she let me be with her.”

Pele smiles a moment,”I had heard there was something going on between you two before I came here.” Then frowns looking to Gleam, “But anyway I don’t care what Eevee has going on, Gleam he shouldn’t have left you and Shii alone up here without supervision.  What if one of you started getting into mischief, or darted outside and decided to play, or---”

Gleam blinks as she starts in then whines, “Mom, Shii knows better than that, they even have her doing simple errands, such as carrying around food.  Vulpix got upset she didn’t come right down, but she seemed to have caught on it was a bad time to just come barging in. Greeting whelps and a caretaker at a door isn’t a big thing for her.  Include the plan between her, Vulpix, and Ralts in that…”

Pele looks at gleam a moment, going nose to nose, “It isn’t necessarily her I was worried about.”

Gleam earfolds, “Mamaa!!  I haven’t lost that much.”  He blushes quite heavily.

Pele sighs, “I suppose that was unfair, I’m just worried your changing has not settled yet.  Fine I’ll give him a pass for not watching you for now. But can you at least insist on sticking near anyone watching you, until we know you’ve stabilized.”

Rattata eartwitches, “I-I’ll keep that in mind myself Mrs. Delphox, more than likely he’ll wind up with me watching him as some point.  But, changing?”

Gleam looks down a bit, “Y-you’ve prob caught me calling her mama a few times already, I-I’m not doing that to be cute.  It’s kinna reflexive right now. Combine with how giddy I feel to first see mom And I shouldn’t be in a dungeon, and a few other things and yeah.  Ok mom you’ve got a point, fine.” He turns his head to the side.

Rattata and Pele perk and turn their head, hearing gasping coming from the whelp room with plenty of excited chattering going on.  Then look to Gleam, Pele smirking, “You know I’ve got you held and pretty well captured right now, I don’t need to let you go. I’m not leaving until we find out what’s going on.  Well unless you’d like to go to the party with me instead.” Gleams ears lowered and he shook his head, “f-f-fine moment.”

The fennekin tapped his badge to get ahold of the newly evolved Sylveon and waited for a response.  “Hey squirt, I was wondering what was up, why havn’t you joined us yet, there’s still a free ribbon.”

Gleam replied, “I ah, hit a snag.  Mom came over with Rattata. I uh, I’m a bit caught.  They want to know what your hiding, or else I hafta go with them as well.”  His ears falling, Pele giving him a slightly pitying look.

Sylveon came back over, “And I just mentioned, ok give me a moment I’ll have Shii lead a game with them.  You two please keep what you’re about to see quiet, I don’t want to pull away from the celebration already going on.  And I’m with Gleam on not wanting too much attention as well, is my main reason for staying in hiding. Let me just have the whelps.  On the plus side after talking with Vulpix and Gleam I kind of wanted to meet you anyway Ms. Delphox.”

In a few moments time the curtain opened and Ezelle made a slow entrance, allowing his ribbons out first to hold the curtain for him then exiting and slowly walking up.  Rattata looked stunned, Pele looked, well Gleam couldn’t really read her face. He knows she and Centai had their moments, both friendly and rivals. He shuddered as she came back to memory again.

Still he watched Pele and she put out a paw to offer to shake, “Well, so I guess you were Eevee.  Sylveon now is it? You really shouldn’t be afraid to celebrate an evolution. It’d give the whelps a reason to be closer to the party as well.”

Rattata finally got over his shock and spoke up, “What the.  You’ve evolved?! How, when, why. Look I know you’re close to Ralts in age but, you’re, you’re a single evolution.  You shouldn’t evolve until closer to adulthood. How, why, just what, what’s going on?”

Ezelle eartwitches, “I’m still trying to learn it exactly, Gleam honestly knows better than i do.  Which I’d like to watch him more often if you don’t mind Ms. Pele, since you don’t seem to go by Delphox too much, I think I can help soothe him a bit and he apparently knows more about me than I honestly do right now.  I think we can share a bit of help with each other.”

Gleam mrfs, “Eevee’s are one of the mon that breaks the aging rule.  Their evolution comes from powerful sources of energy, environment, as well as their own personal connections with other mons.  If the evolution is not due to a source of energy, then all that is needed is the right forces around them causing their body to begin changing, and then finally the actual trigger.”

Gleam sat up, “He’s been taking care of the whelps most of the time, and his body feels we all need adults now, I had checked him earlier before he changed and he was fully ready to evolve.  And his trigger just happened to come tonight. Who knows how long he’s been waiting for a trigger.”

Rattata eartwitching, “Well, I suppose it’ll be nice to suddenly have two adults now.  Well, 1 adult, one who looks like an adult? I don’t know.” The Rattata looks to the side then back to Gleam, “So, you’re like fully a whelp?  I mean obviously you know everything still, but I mean…”

Gleam sighs, “Y Yeah gotta grow up, my, my inner fire is extremely weak.  Get cold easily, weaker...” he looks aside blushing, then perked as he got a hug from the rattata..a good warm one, and he started looking up towards him.

“Calm down, calm down.  If anything you don’t prove anything by beating up on a whelp, or proving you’re stronger.  Now I do wonder how it’d go between you and my brother.” He grins a little bit, “But honestly he looks up to you.  Most of those whelps do. Though it was funny to see them bowl you over.”

Gleam nods, closing his eyes, “Yeah and now I’m one of them.  Still havn’t had time for a proper age check, but they figure I’m under a year physically.”  

Gleams looked away after that, Pele giving him a soft squeeze, “You’ll grow same as all the others, don’t worry too much, just relax and let others take care of you for now.  We should give the whelps a more proper explanation. Or you could even since they do look up to you.”

Pele looked to Rattata a moment, “I’m going to help them settle in, then join back at party setup, would you be a dear and go on ahead?”

Rattata nodded quickly climbing down and started skittering off Pele smiled, “And take it easy Tacen, don’t worry I’ll see you later.”  The Rattata paused a moment, ears perking, looking back, then smiled waving back, “Ok Pele!” And on off he went.

She looked to Sylveon who had been waiting pretty patiently, in all honesty he had been looking over Pele, lost in thought a bit.  Once Rattata was gone he perked, “Huh, he told you his name, well he has softened a bit.” The sylveon reached his ribbons up, lightly twirling one around Pele’s hand, another circling around Gleam in a soft hold.  

“So Shii can keep the other whelps busy for a moment.  Was it really just to help Gleam settle in with the rest of the whelps?”  He looks up at the Delphox a bit more curiously, then reaches one more ribbon up, lightly lifting up Gleam and sliding him down the ribbons to the Sylveon’s face, the small fox perking in surprise as he slides, squealing a moment then blushes with a soft lil giggle.

Pele perked, watching curiously after she snapped out of thought, “Actually he uh, Tacen never did tell me his name.”  She looked down, at Gleam and smiled lightly, “You have fun on the ribbon slide I take it?”

Gleam blushed looking aside a moment then looked up at the two, “I, ah, l-little bit scary but, the ribbons feel nice and ah.  I know he wouldn’t hurt me on purpose given, ah.”

Ezelle blushed a moment as well, “Given everything, yeah I don’t want to see you hurt.  Don’t like seeing you cry either, but I kinna know you need some relief.” He hugs the whelp in his ribbons and carefully sets Gleam upon his back, gently holding him so he won’t fall off.

Pele hmmed a bit more, “Don’t tell me, Gleam did you really make another Sylveon?” He nodded shyly and Pele sighed, “I swear, what is it with you.”  She looked at Ezelle warily, “You better not try to take my little boy from me.” She then paused a moment, closing her eyes, and rubbing her head.

Gleam and Ezelle looked among each other a moment, Gleam frowning a moment, “Mama, you know I’m your kit…”

Ezelle lowered his ears, “It’s not that Gleam.”  He rubs a ribbon along Pele’s arm and sighs, “I think you aren't the only one holding back Gleam.”  The fennekin earperks curiously for a moment, looking up at Pele curiously and Ezelle sighs, “Pele, be serious how strong have those motherly instincts gotten for Gleam.  You aren't used to them and you’re repressing quite a bit aren't you? Especially since they are for your trainer.”

Pele looks down at Ezelle curiously, then closed her eyes.  “Fine fine, I guess you do know. Yes since the moment we’ve been here and he’s been like this.  I just, I just. I’ve wanted to hold him, love him. Feed him, just do any and everything for him.  I worry for him when we are seperated, and I worry about losing him again like happened before.” She folds her ears, looking to Gleam, leaning down to rub his cheek, “I, I thought I wouldn’t ever get used to him being so small and helpless.  But it just makes me want to take care of him more. To see him scruffed and carried around, or you with your ribbons holding him.”

She gently pet along Gleam’s head, “I just want to love him more and give him more.  I, we had a thing in the dungeon. In part I was grieving over losing what I remembered of the trainer I had but.”  She closed her eyes, “I was already feeling like he was my little boy. I won’t get into what happened, but Gleam. In part what I did was so harsh, because I felt like my boy needed to be punished for being naughty, and told his place.  I never, never should have been that harsh but, what’s done is done.”

Ezelle frowns, rubbing over Pele’s back with a ribbon, another lightly petting Gleam as well, “You…” He sighs, “I don’t know what happened there but this isn’t you just feeling bad about that.  You’re holding back something else. When you snapped at me it was over fear of losing Gleam, given how he acts, one that I think you know is irrational. So you hide it even more, which just makes it build I bet.  What is it?”

Pele sighs, “I want you to understand this.  What happened in that dungeon, what I did to him.”  She looks at Gleam, then reached out and picked him up off of Ezelle’s back, holding him close, “It was cruel, it was mean, it broke his heart into pieces.  Once he was able to you should have heard how hard and loudly he cried, because of what I did and said. But you know the first thing he did? He did everything he could to reach for me, to be back in my arms and held.”

She shakes her head, “In that moment I knew he was mine.  And I tried to be sad but, part of me, all it could think was ‘now he’s mine’.  He would go to about any length to have a special bond with me. And while I want to feel sorry for what I did, for breaking you so hard Gleam.  I find it hard to do so, breaking you made you my kit. It gave you to me, and you don’t want to let go.”

She closes her eyes again, “And I know that, you don’t want to let go.  You hate any talk at all of me not being your mother. It makes you upset, angry, and mad.  It makes you break down crying to think I won’t be your mama. You start talking even cuter and acting even more helpless and whelpish”

She looked to Gleam and Ezelle, “But that’s the problem.  And why I push away, why I hold back. Gleam my actions took anyway any chance for you to make your own choice.  You gave me the rational reasons, but as you said you’ve fallen hard, those are just that the rational reasons you can give me.  They aren't the real reasons and we both know it. You want anything and everything to be my boy, to have that special bond with me.  This world broke you some. I broke you further, and while you rationally chose to be my boy, you know it isn’t why you want it.”

“That, that is why I suppose I’m so possessive.”  She looks at Gleam, “I know he’ll do anything to be with me but, I worry.  I worry he’ll find someone who didn’t hurt him. Who will be a parent without breaking him first.  That he’ll see how nice it is..and leave me again, but this time for good.”

Ezelle pushes up close, putting a ribbon on Pele’s maw, another ribbon wiping away some tears from Gleam’s eyes, “And there it is.  And I can see how I triggered that, especially since my evolution relied on me loving someone already.” He smiles sadly, “The sad part is yeah I’ve already thought it would be lovely to have a whelp call me daddy.  But there is honestly another reason to that.” He noses Pele then licks her on the cheek, “You know, I know you’ve heard it, you do look a lot like Ena, but you are different from her. Very different in other ways Pele.  But I wish to ask you a couple of questions, then you should go and get ready for the party, and I’ll help Gleam settle in.”

Pele looked at Ezelle warily, especially after the talk of being called daddy, but she perked and sighed, “fine I suppose you are right, please ask your questions.”

Ezelle nods, “Do you know what a Spirit Talker is?”

Pele perked her ears, and sighs, “It’s, it’s.  It was Ms. Ena’s old position. She was the previous Spirit Talker.  Her daughter was to be the next one. Her daughter was lost and Ena disappeared soon after, assumedly to look for her.”  Pele sighs, “And fine...when I came here Celebi did something to me, as apparently I look so like Ena and I’m a spirit talker as well and an adult.  I keep getting inspiration of the powers I just need to know what they are, or get something to remind me, and knowledge comes flooding in. But I still don’t know everything.”

Ezelle perks most curiously, hmming and nodding.  “You know that sort of information is not well known, the---”

Pele sighs, “Save it, I don’t know your position, but I know you’re also a Guardian, you’ve inherited it from your father.  A few of us put our heads together and we have a good idea who all the current guardians are. What’s confusing is why all of you don’t communicate if apparently all of you are so important.”

Sylveon lets his ears fall, “This whole knowledge thing has been really bothering you huh?  Honestly I get the feeling it was sort of, well, the loss of the Spirit Talker led many of them to lose hope.  Pele we need to talk later, one thing I will say is this. I wasn’t taught much of my actual role, beyond what it actually is, and what I’m supposed to do.  I’m the Hearth Keeper. My main purpose is to see to the mental wellbeing of the inhabitants of the town, to keep them from falling to a feral state. I know my powers will allow me to heal as well, but I’ve no idea how to access them.”

Ezelle, “Anyway i know little of my role because Ena saw fit to give Dad a swift course about the Spirit Talker, which is what he did teach me.  Not because I need it, but because Ena knew you’d be here. And most of the important part of my role is learnable from a trainer. What can’t be learned well, we’ll need to fetch my dad.  Which to my understanding you should already know what to do.”

Pele eartwitched, covering her eyes with her paw, listening, sighing, “Ena….knew I’d...she knew I’d come. I...how, why.”  She sighed, “Fine this place needs a Spirit Talker, and apparently needs it to survive. And I know my little Gleam loves this place, so if I need to be one to keep it healthy fine I’ll do so.  I just, I wish I knew why I kept getting all of this knowledge...I guess that Ena knew.”

Ezelle nods, “Ena’s house is still in town, closed down.  It’s a rather odd one.”

Pele sighed, “The rectangular one yes I know, it’s supposed to have a seal on it.  Kencil is wondering if i’d be able to unlock it if I got near it. Just more of this magical woohoo I suddenly know how to do it.”

Ezelle frowns, “Ok sorry to tell you then but yes, you’ll know how to unlock it.  Ena was something of a fortune teller for the town, I’m not quite sure of everything but she had some ability to see the future.  No idea if that was from her guardian abilities or not. Again she knew you’d show up. That house apparently has things in it you’ll find useful.  Look we need to talk later, a lot. Actually me and Gleam both need to talk with you.” he sighs a moment, “But hurray for parties. I have one more question, and then I suggest you get ready for the party.  Then afterwards go home.” He eartwitches, reaching up for Gleam again.

Ezelle smiles for a moment, sliding Gleam back down onto him, making the kit giggle just a little bit, “And shall we stop playing pass the kit around?   I know you love him but he is planning to stay with the whelps. And passing him around like this will, well.” he looks to Gleam, “You care to be the one to say it?”

Gleam blushes, “It can get a bit confusing passing back and forth, and well, a bit upsetting to be constantly moved around.  More than a few whelps can start fussing over it.” He looks down a bit shyly, Ezelle patting him with his ribbons.

Pele sighs, “I, yeah you’re right I just, I don’t really want to let him go.  You already know my worry. But I also promised him I’d do my best to help raise him to overcome all the hurt he’s taken, and make things right with him too.  But you had one more question?”

Ezelle nods, “Do you know the promise made near the Fiery Flowers?”

Pele perks, “That sounds,familiar but I, nothing is commi---”

Ezelle perks with a smile, “I’ll always find you.  No matter where you are, where you go.” Pele blinked beginning to recite with Ezelle, “If you are lost or hurt, I will search every dungeon, climb the highest peaks.  All to be with you.”

Pele shivered, “I, I’m getting tired of that but I...”  She sighed, “that one felt different, like something long lost...”

Ezelle just grinned widely and nodded, “No no I understand, but thank you I just needed to know if you knew the promise.”

Pele sighs, “Ok fine, before I go.  Gleam have you been ok with Mr. Sylveon taking care of you?  Nothing bad happening?”

Gleam blushed a little more but then nodded, letting his little tail wag, “Y, yeah, played with Shii and Eevee a little bit an hadda nap.”

Ezelle looked up, “Gleam not gonna tell her about.”

Gleam frowned, “it’s nothin important and not need--”

Pele sighs, “Gleam, if he brought it up, it’s important enough.”  She turned to Ezelle, “Apparently my lil kit needs others to tell me how his day has gone.”

Gleam’s ears fell and he blushed, with a tiny little whine.

Ezelle perked his ears, looking up between them but nodded to Pele, “During naptime he started to kick and squirm heavily, then woke up with a start.  He began crying almost immediately, but when I tried to bring him in to cuddle and help sooth him he refused, I had to grab him with my ribbons and pull him against me.”

Gleam just blushed more, looking down and away, mumbling softly.

Pele sighed, “I figured they’d return eventually, I’m sorry you had to deal with that.  Before all of this he was having similar issues. We had a peaceful almost two days with no bad issues beyond squirming while sleeping.”  She looked to Gleam, “But I’m more worried about why he tried to back away. Sweety were you scared of Mr. Sylveon?”

Gleam shook his head, “No.”

Pele looked to Gleam, “Gleam, what’s wrong come on.”

Gleam sighed, “It was just a bad dream, that’s all.  D-d-didn’t n-need h-help get b-back down to sleep.”

Pele ruffled Gleam’s headfur and sighed, “Of course, don’t need anyone’s help huh?”  She looked at Ezelle, “As a field test, I’ll let you answer this one. But thank you for letting me know “  She closed her eyes thinking then considered, “I hate to impose but, this was suggested by Kencil. That I take some time to myself and le.--”

Ezelle smiled, “Gleam can have a sleepover, Eevee will probably love the idea.  But you should go, I can hear things getting started.”

As Pele left Ezelle smiled, heading back towards the whelp room, almost prancing happily, “Ena, Ena, Ena.  I’ll never know how you did it, but you did, thank you.”

Gleam earperked, “Wha?  What are you talking about?”

Ezelle closed his eyes, “Though now she doesn’t know what’s going on.  Her blame is on Celebi replacing Ena with her, it’d make sense if that was in Celebi’s abilities.  To clone a pokemon.”

“But no, in all honesty Ena knew what was going to happen.  There is something else I didn’t tell Pele that Ena told me.  The sudden inspirations, Ena knew why, why the two look so alike.”

Gleam frowns, “Ezelle?  Wha? What are you going on about?  You know more?”

Ezelle sighs, “I think a whelp has been stimulated enough, especially after a dungeon, and now how you act more than a bit skittish as a whelp.”

Gleam’s earsfold, “But I, what is it about Mom you know, a-about the mom I raised--”  He pauses himself, blinking, then blushes hotly and covers his muzzle, “I didn’t just--”

Ezelle shhs, giving a few soothing pets, “Poor thing you are all mixed up between her whelp and her trainer.  This is a rough transition for both of you it seems. And from what she said, she’s tried to give her an out from being her whelp, and that hurt you more huh?”

Gleam looked aside, ears wilting then nodded, “Y-Yuh huh.  I-I had to f-fight hard to keep m-my composure.” he looks aside blushing, “W-wound up crying w-was so upset, but was tryin’ hard not to.  At-at this point my my goal for the day h-has degraded from get home to a friendly welcome to, to, to just make it through the day as just a happy whelp at least, not needing to cry anymore or anything.”

Ezelle frowns, “That, that.”  He sighs, rubbing over Gleam with his feelers, then considers, “Oh geeze I’m so sorry, so sorry.”  Ezelle closes his eyes, then lifts Gleam off his back, using his ribbons to hug the kit against his chest.  He sighs an considers more, let’s get Gleam’s mind away from that.

“Your mom like celosia flowers doesn’t she?”

Gleam looked up curiously, “How did you know?”

Ezelle smiles softly, “I just figured, how about once the flowering dungeons come around I can take you through it and we can grab your mother some pretty flowers hmm?”

Gleam’s eyes went wide, his body shaking as he whined, “Nuh, nuh, nuh!  Wh-whelps are not supposed to be in dungeons we all know that. Dangerous for them, and, and, and tend to cause trouble and be in the way and--”

Ezelle perks at that immediate response frowning, bringing Gleam up eye to eye a moment, the kit quieting down with a soft whimper, “You’re.”  Ezelle sighs, “You’ve become afraid of dungeons. My word, I know I said some earlier but, I didn’t think it was this bad. Genuinely afraid of them?”  He sighs, “Something else we’ll need to work on, on the plus side it means we won’t need to worry about you running off into one on your own. But Gleam you shouldn’t be this afraid, it’d be a dungeon you used to go through safely with your group.  And I’m pretty sure you’d behave yourself. But, we’ll leave that sort of talk for later.”

Ezelle sighs, closing his eyes, “No wonder Vulpix said you hold everything back.”  Ezelle blushes a bit, then hugs Gleam closer, “And yeah Pele is right, you do make me want to just take care of you more.  And no wonder you don’t want to be center of attention, volatile lil guy.” He softly cleans off a few tears forming on Gleam’s face.

Gleam sighed, ears twitching, he does his best to show some affection back, rubbing his muzzle against Ezelle then nods, “I-I just c-can’t help it.  I know you don’t try to be mean bout it but, but I keep getting talked about, while I’m there, and you just talked about me, to me. And I just I, I understand why.  P-passing around information, i-important to do I just I.” He tries to take in a deep breath.

Ezelle watches him warily and sighs, “I know you want to just be happy, but come on I know you watched the whelps.  I don’t want to nip you again to make you stop holding back. You need to let out some tears, I won’t think less of you I--”

Ezelle sighs, thinking for a bit, “You’ve been through a lot.  A lot of things that I think would hurt me, in fact one thing I know I’m sad over and you helped me and my brother grieve over.”  He stares at Gleam a moment, “When did...” Ezelle paused shaking his head, wondering how deep some things go.

“I’ve got whelps to watch, along with you, and I think I’ve held up enough.  How about I let you tell the other whelps things from your side, let them know you aren’t exactly one of their caretakers anymore and such?”

Gleam nodded slowly, “I, I suppose.”  He pauses a bit sighing in thought.

Ezelle looked Gleam curiously, “What’s up?”

Gleam sighed, “Worried about Mom, wondering what you know.  She, she’s more stressed over this than I thought. Worried how she’ll handle being the center of attention, wanting to help her…”

Ezelle sighs, “Fine I’ll tell you the one other thing I know about your mother, and why my whole thought of someone else calling me daddy, well, relies on her, and if you have an idea I can help make sure this doesn’t drive her crazy.”

Gleam nods, “I’ve got a kind of crazy thought, we should have time, let’s go meet the whelps, I’ve got a fun project they might like….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have an issue.
> 
> And you can have an issue.
> 
> And you can have an issue!
> 
> Everyone can have issues! Woooooo.
> 
> So we hit sort of the heart of Pele’s issues when it comes with being Gleam. And yes she suddenly gained a ton of motherly feelings and instincts all at once. Where before she’d not have a strong desire to help other younger mon, beyond it’s just nice. Suddenly she’s seeing younger mon and feeling an attachment, especially a younger fennekin she came to the world with.
> 
> Yes these are strong, unusual, and new feeling for her. They sort of remind her of the feelings she had for her trainer, but this is also different and stronger, she specifically wants him to live, to thrive, to learn, to teach him, for him to be happy and better. In essence she feels much more like his mother than like his mon.
> 
> Again there is a reason for this, I still havn’t found a good spot story wise for it to happen. But long story short, Pokeballs do some interesting things to pokemon.
> 
> Otherwise I wonder how well I’m doing at hiding certain story beats. I know I keep hinting towards this and that, but I wonder how far I go, how easy I make it to guess certain things, etc. Part of my issue is that some of the have reasons to reveal this or that earlier than I want it revealed. So I need to find ways around them right out revealing it.
> 
> Like the other info Sylveon knows. He outright told Gleam in an earlier draft of this, and I just barely was able to write it in such a way that, made sense character wise, for the stress Pele is under to be mentioned before the other secret Sylveon has. Even so I’ve left some very strong hints (in my eyes...being the author) of what this secret is. And no you won’t find out what he said till later.
> 
> With that said I’m going to leave another reminder. I plan to eventually rename this book, and make it part of a series. I’ve found as far as ‘books’ go, the ending of the party is a good part to end this as a sort of ‘introduction to the setting’ sort of things. By then you’ll have met the major characters, and have some clue on their personalities.
> 
> I then plan to follow up with two new books. The main one will follow Gleam and give perspectives of those with and watching Gleam.
> 
> The other book will follow Pele more as she discovers more about the secrets of the island, of being a Guardian, and why the islands seem to have an odd blend of technology.
> 
> The main series with Gleam I plan to continue updating weekly (posting by Monday each week).
> 
> The series following Pele will be posted whenever stuff in it won’t spoil too much in the Gleam series. Some stuff will still spoil due to its nature, but I’m going to try to keep it from spoiling too much.
> 
> Both series will also have in their summary which chapter of the other series it’ll spoil. (So you can choose which series to have spoiled first).


	15. The Party Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party is finally being prepared for. Pele goes to settle in and find out exactly how she’ll be revealed, and gets some time with Vulpix, to finally touch base with her. Meanwhile Gleam and Sylveon, with the aid of elder Rattata, start getting in position for the party and their own little surprise.

She still was not sure about this whole party thing.  They were pretty much relying on her to perk up people's moods.  It wasn’t on purpose, originally it was to celebrate Gleam but, no she understands his issues, he feels so vulnerable now.  And he can so easily break out into tears, he doesn’t want that to happen in front of everyone. Plus being so young, that he seems pretty much helpless.  She shook her head, her poor kit has a lot of issues, and she hasn’t really overly helped him feel any more, mature. Then again she’s pretty sure Taran would happily eat out of her hand.  And now she has a Sylveon who is attached to Gleam, again, that she needs to contend with. Though that really isn’t fair to Centai, or the new Sylveon she supposes. If it wasn’t for Centai, Gleam would probably be dead, and really she got along fine with Centai for the most part, the two just fought over Gleam occasionally.  Before her evolution the two were pretty much friends even, she supposed they still might have been afterwards, they were just kind of rivals too.

She shook her head, and just went straight towards the middle, past a few bits of dried grass, just skipping the road for now.  She should focus on this whole party thing instead, she hopes she can do her own part of this. Though with how strongly everyone has reacted to her, this is really going to be a trying time.  It’d be nice if a few were less, oh wow over her, the whelps were at least all cute, she could enjoy watching them. But now she’ll be the center of attention, she’s used to working on a team and staying behind shields, not being the one all eyes are on.

She tapped her badge a few times, listening to the menus.  She still needs a crash course on how to work this thing. She knows how to accept calls, but how do you start one.  She was glad to see Gleam, but now she realizes by sending everyone away, she’s without a guide, only knows the party is in middle of town.  And she’s trying to not ruin the surprise of there being a fully evolved adult here, which is why she wished she knew how to call someone on the badge.  The party is apparently already going, she supposed she could treat it like they are infiltrating a base again. Well like she is, Gleam isn’t here to guide her.  She shakes her head, she needs to stop thinking of her kit as a guide, but he was at one point. No she needs to learn to seperate Gleam, the Trainer and Gleam, her kit in her head.

She paid a bit more attention to her surroundings, watching more for other mon.  And trying to get a feel for where everyone is at, sadly she never was the one for scouting the area, then again it’s a bunch of first evos and young non-evolvers, she’s probably overthinking this.  She looks around among the going ons, can hear some giggling, a bit of talking, she can see something of a firepit and logs being set, mostly small ones it seems. Do they have issues carrying them around?

She perked as she caught sight of Vulpix, finally someone who knows she is here.  She can stop wandering and searching and get some direction. Then once this is done she can stop skulking around.

“ _ Hey there, I hope I’m not interfering much.” _ She watched Vulpix jump a moment, and wonders if she can find a way to not surprise pokemon with that mental talking thing.

“ _ That sounded like, Pele?  Got the whelps dropped off I take it? _ ”  Vulpix looked around a moment, Pele answering the affirmative for her.

“ _ Ok good, any issues or problems?  Though I assume you’re probably looking for an idea of where you should go next.  Stay discrete and follow me while we talk. And keep in contact, if I don’t feel you in my head then that’s my only way of knowing I lost you until i can see you.” _

Pele considered, how much to say, “ _ There is another surprise in the works, to be saved for a later date, probably tomorrow.  Otherwise after the relatively calm time with him just being squirmy in my arms when sleeping, it seems Gleam’s nightmares have started to come back stronger.  He had one when napping apparently.” _

Vulpix frowned as she started to pad along, leading Pele past a few stalls, towards a building on one end of the central plaza, it looked Kecleon shaped, she thinks, “ _ Another surprise to wait for later?  Fun. And nightmares? That shouldn’t be too bad should it?” _

“ _ He feels he’s ‘too big’ to be soothed after a nightmare.  Apparently refused it and had to be pulled in and forced to let himself be soothed.  Kencil mentioned earlier he might be tough to care for, not because he’s naughty, but because he might try to hide when he needs help a bit too much.  One of those moments sadly.”  _ She looked over the Kecleon shaped building a moment, then perked as Vulpix went inside, looking around, then quickly making her way in.

“ _ Of course of course, yet more of him holding back his feelings.  Well I gave eevee a warning, he asked how much Gleam had been holding back, so I gave him the truth, pretty much everything he could.  So note to self, if I’m watching him, stay close when he’s sleeping. Because if I don’t I might miss him startling awake, then closing his eyes and pretending he’s asleep.  And then not actually sleeping.”  _ Vulpix made her way over to some pillows laid out and patted one for Pele.

Pele nodded, looking about the building, seeing nobody in here at the moment, “Huh, this looks similar to a marketplace like where I’m from.  Goods stalls, hmm, there was mention those coins we found in the dungeon were some kind of currency. Though I can’t imagine money being of much use right now.  And good thought on that about Gleam, I’ll need to watch out for similar I suppose.”

Vulpix nodded, “Something of a traveling merchant, occasionally you’ll meet one of his relatives in a dungeon.  And they’ll sell you goods, so taking pokecoin into a dungeon is actually still useful. But no nobody really buys or sells up here anymore.  I wish we were doing well enough that we could worry about money uphere but no. Anyway feel free to rest in here, I need to handle a few more things and then well, I hate you sitting alone in here.”  She shakes her head, “Feels odd telling an adult what to do. But, I’ll see if I can either get you revealed soon, or have you some company.”

Pele smirks, “If it helps you feel better, apparently evolving is different in the human world.  We are actually close to the same age, since I know Ralts is one of the oldest, and she’s older than me.  I’m actually 7 years old.”

Vulpix blinks and perks, looking at the Delphin more than a touch stunned, Pele nodding, “It’s true, and while I’m surprising you, Gleam is actually the oldest of everyone here at 17,  and.” she considers, “I know you heard a bit more before we shut down on the boat due to Flint’s thing, does the word guardian mean anything to you?”

Vulpix squeaks for a moment at everything at once, “Gleam.  Is. That. Old. I-but-you-you’re-I, you’re only 7 but..but.”  she pauses, catching herself then squeaks again, “I, Guardians I.”  She stares at Pele, and takes a moment to breath and calm down, “Y you’re capable of commanding guild leaders, sudden things come to your memory like you’re being forced to fit in, you somehow used sing like another pokemon, now you know about Guardians, what did Gleam raise?”

Pele sighs, “I wish I knew, we need to talk more later.  As you obviously know at least a bit more. But I’ll say this, apparently Celebi did some things to me, I’m guessing with me looking so like Ena, she’s replaced Ena with me.  Included in the suddenly remembering things is, well...” Pele eartwitches, “Aha.”

The Delphox brought out her wand and twirled it, the tip of it emitting Blue Flame, then she gripped it properly, the blue flame blazing out a moment, as a swablu flickered in it a moment before vanishing, “I’m also remembering how to be a Spirit Talker.”

Vulpix perked, starting to blush a moment, “S-sit down a moment?”  Pele perked but did as asked, a moment later she found a vulpix climbing into her lap and rubbing her head against stomach, just snuggling in.  Pele looked on in surprise a moment, but settles, softly hugging around the vulpix with a sigh, closing her eyes. Then perked feeling a soft tingle from the vulpix, “hmm?”

Vulpix blushed, “Ok yes I just wanted to snuggle a moment, I don’t do it often but, you’ve caught me heavily off guard, and I, I’m just.  I’m excited we finally have another Spirit Talker. Otherwise my guardian abilities are weak but I can at least measure other guardians.” She eartwitches, “Your own powers seem, well, I think you have the ability to do any sort of spirit talker guardian power but, you’re reserves are low, so you quickly run out of your energy, to my understanding your energy reserves are related to age and how much you’ve used your powers, just keep using them as you can.”  She sighs then perks, “You’ve, you’ve found Fulger already didn’t you?” She perked more, “Everybody on lapras they-they all know now?”

Pele watched Vulpix curiously then nodded, “I see.  So that’s why I couldn’t hold who I summoned long.” She perked more, “You figured that out eh?  Yes Fulger is, with Shinx.” She eartwitches, “Yes, they all know. Look we all need to talk later, to my understanding this guardian thing is heavily important.  And you have more of the party to deal with. But one question. You obviously know more. Why have none of the other guardian’s really been told about you, or whatever your role is?”

Vulpix sighed, closing his eyes, nosing Pele’s body a bit more, then slowly stepped back.  “My dad asked me to leave them alone, to not bring it up unless they asked. That their parents would take their own time in teaching them, and would let them know about me as it was important.  Otherwise I know who all the other guardians are.”

Pele nods, “So no real important reason for the separation of knowledge.  Ok question two then. Shinx thinks he figured out a pattern involving Gleam on who the other Guardians are.  Would the guardians be--”

Vulpix blinked then sighed, “I need to stop underestimating that cat, that’s what he realized when talking with me.  Good grief.” She closed her eyes, “Myself, Shii, Eevee, Ralts, and Taran.” She perked, “Oh right, and now you, all six are here.”  She smiled a little bit.

Pele nods, “Well nobody's parents are here, I’m the only adult around, or the only thing that resembles one.  All of us, all six of us guardians, as well as Gleam and Flint need to meet together, discuss what exactly this guardian thing is.  I’m flying blind as it is, but I know I can, at the least, retrieve other guardians. This also allows me to find out what happened to Gleam in those dungeons, and maybe help him better.  And yes Flint knows, when he realized he brought two guardians with him you shoulda seen his face.”

Vulpix sighed, closing her eyes, “I, yes you’re right.  All of us need to talk it out. Make sure we are all on the same page, in regards to what we know, what we need and.”  she earfolds, “How to treat Gleam, we all need his help but, he needs to be well first, our parents really put too much of a burden on him.  Anyway you were right I need to tend back to the party. But yes we should all talk. I’ll buzz you when we are ready, I have a good idea for how you can enter easily.  Unfortunately something odd is going on, I’ve heard a few other badges buzz, and some whispering, some kind of counter show, I’ve no idea. So I’m needing to figure out what is going on.”

Pele nods, “Secrets within secrets, well good luck.”

* * *

 

Pele sighed softly, not sure how long she’d been waiting.  She was lost in her thoughts for a bit, trying to come to terms with various things regarding her and Gleam as well as considering this whole guardian thing.  She was kind of feeling odd about being left alone with no company, but found it a good chance to relax and focus in the end. She felt her badge buzz and tapped it, “Pele here.”  

“Hey it’s Vulpix, it’s a bit hard to plan a lot of stuff ahead of time, so this’ll be pretty simple.  We’ve got a nice stack of logs ready to be set alit, so we can do some impromptu roasting on the fire, and use it to light the torches in the area, as it is starting to get a bit dark.  Most of the time we worry about getting it started with good kindling, think you can perhaps make an entrance by setting the fire alight?”

Pele hmmed to herself a moment, then replied, “You said you’ve got torches that need to be lit up as well?  Do you mind if I also handle those?”

Vulpix replied, “I suppose, I mean it’s an awful lot of torches, you sure you won’t run out of energy?”

Pele blinked a moment, “Before I came here, how many highly experienced fire types had you met?”

Vulpix “No idea why you want to know but um, a Oricorio mother, and a TalonFlame father.  Both of them tended to deliver news and information. Otherwise Gleam.”

Pele sighed, “Gotcha, so walk down there and light the place up then?”

Vulpix, “Yes, we’ve got your approached a bit covered so you should be able to make your appearance something of a surprise.”

“Ok, I’ll make my way on down then, see all of you soon Vulpix.”

With that Pele got up and made her way outside of the kecleon building, a few curtains had been set up, she perked her ears looking for the torches.  She hasn’t done a show in ages, and she’s evolved since then, but she still remembers the old lessons of adding flare to moves. And now she’s here, she’s learned to do things with her psychic abilities, there must be equal ways to do fire based things without relying on moves.  She’s been annoyed by these sudden inspirations, could she force one she wants instead perhaps?

She took out her wand to focus on.  Lighting a fire on it, then perked, whenever she wanted to use a fire move fire would appear on her wand as she focused her energies.  Could she perhaps just do that elsewhere? That’d be handy but not the effect she wants, still it’d be a start. She looked for a nearby torch and tried to focus on it, like she was on her wand, then perked as a fire sparked to life on it.  That was quick, and not an inspiration, she figured that out, what else could she do? Gleam helped her work  on making sparks fly off her fire, small embers flying away from her attacks to look interesting. Well time to stop pausing, time for her to go out there and put on a show.

* * *

 

Gleam shivered a little bit, he was still nervous about this idea, and honestly with it getting dark he was starting to feel cold.  He also felt a bit odd being in the middle of the whelp group instead of leading them or at the back. Which he looked back at Rattata shyly, he instead was doing the duty of back minder, making sure none of the whelps got overly side tracked.  Meanwhile Sylveon was carefully going through the buildings so he could stay out of sight. Shii was actually riding Sylveon and showing off how close to leaving whelphood she was, as her illuminate ability was being put to use to make sure everyone could still see.

From what he had gathered mama was going to come out as a surprise, lighting the fireplace in the market.  But soon the whelp group had made their way down quietly, and were setting up in the old move learning stall.  He was at least glad he was being allowed to walk some, though being wrapped up in his scarf made blanket did make for some awkward movement.  He listened a bit to Ezelle and Rattata as they instructed the whelps, and generally helped them get settled in. Gleam hadn’t had a chance to look around here in, well months really, and despite shivering he nudged out of the whelp group to peek out a hole in the tent, wanting to see how it looked.

His ears perked as he saw a torch light itself, then a few sparks fly off from the top.  Then saw another torch self-light more sparks flying off, this time blue, then he yelped as he found himself scruffed by Ezelle, squirming his legs in the air helplessly then let them dangle the whelps all giggling lightly as he got brought back to them, Ezelle looking down at him.

“Gleam, come on you know better, especially with your need for warmth don’t separate from the other whelps.”

Gleam just lowered his ears, looking to the side a bit but nodded, trying his best to not cry.  Though he already felt tears welling up in his eyes. He just tried to blink them away, then squeaks out softly, “Yes sir.”  He blushed a bit more at how easy it was to falter and say sir and ma’am like that, then perks as a few whelps pushed up against him, rubbing and nudging gently, he softly returned the favor among them.

He watches as Ezelle’s ears fell softly from that reaction then he turned away and brought out the snack bag.  Turning back the sylveon started giving Rattata a few gummies and started feeding the whelps. He looked to Gleam a moment who, despite enjoying the food, and feeling peckish hadn’t tried to reach for his snack yet. “So what were you looking at out there anyway?”

Gleam perked up, blushing, “I-I-I think I c-caught mama either practicing or starting her show.”

Ezelle hmmed interestingly, “Oh really now, what did you see?”  Gleam now had a few more eyes on him, “And come on whelps lets see if a show is about to happen.”

Gleam blushed, and followed the whelp group, not wanting to be admonished or scruffed again, “Oh I ah, a-a few torches lighting ups by demself, emba’s flying off and away from them.  Started aways from firepit, near the Kecleon Market buildings.” Gleam blinking at his own speech, that is not how you say some of those words, and he knows that.

He caught both Rattata and Ezelle giving him some odd looks, making him just blush heavily and duck his head down, he perked and point, “Nother one lighting up now.”  The kits perked watching and looked that way, then oohed as the small sparks came off of it, shooting off, one spark leaped to another torch and lit up.

Gleam smiled watching, “Oh mama trying to make it pretty, wonder how many other seeing it.  Not attack, but reminds of show stuff.” he squirmed, realizing he lost a bit more grammar there again, he’s going to need to watch his talk more he realizes, blushing, then caught Rattata behind him, lightly pulling him away from the whelps, he followed gulping and hoping he wasn’t in trouble.

Rattata shhhed a bit, nosing an ear gently and softly pet over to try to soothe him, and Gleam found the rattata bringing a gummy to his maw, he spoke softly, “We both noticed you feeling a bit down after the scruffing, you didn’t even try for the food.  You doing ok?” Gleam just blushed more and distracted himself with his snack, enjoying the fire gummy for the now delicious treat he found it, trying his best to pace himself, but he wound up really just gobbling it down quickly, looking at the rattata meekly once he was done.  “Also Gleam you ah, you just trying to be cute with how you were talking earlier?”

Gleam blushed more, ears falling, “I-I, I’m ok I just, hard explain.” he shook his head, “N-not trying, I-I-I know what I said was said wrong but-but, it just came out that way.”

Rattata sighed, “I think we just got you feeling a lot like a whelp huh?  Scruffed instead of called back, and admonished just because you were looking out a hole in the tent?”

Gleam whined in the back of his throat but nodded softly, he got a soft hug and a squeeze from the rattata, “In part I want to say sorry, but with how meek you’re acting, and a few other things I’ve heard.  It might be best if you did just feel like a little whelp for awhile, take your mind off and just enjoy it.” he smiles, “You liked your snack just fine didn’t you?”

Gleam nodded a little more, hiding his face in Rattata’s fur, ears twitching, the Rattata continuing, “I’ve never seen a whelp so greedily gobble down their gummies.  It’s almost like you haven’t gotten a lot of them before. But hey it’s what you should eat, and I was told something about a ton of Fire gummies suddenly added to the Guilds network.  Over 500 of the things, I’m wondering where such a stash came from myself. But hey you’re lucky, nothing but tasty gummies for you for quite awhile huh?”

Gleam perked up, squeaking, feeling a fluttering in his stomach, shuddering a bit, and looked out to enjoy the show, starting to softly shed tears, while he tried to watch what was coming to be something of a show.  He felt Rattata softly pet along him, then lifts his scarf a bit, warm hands petting down his back, he shuddered a bit, sniffling a moment, then settles as he let the rattata try his best to pet and soothe him. Giving a soft nosing at the rattata’s hand when he could.  He wanted to at least show he appreciated the attempt.

Rattata sighed softly, hugging the fox gently, “At least you appreciate my attempts huh?  Can you be honest with me then? At least what am I doing wrong. I am one of the ones who watches the whelps, you’ll be in my care from time to time, I’d rather not always wind up with you feeling bad.”

Gleam lowered his ears, rubbing against Rattata softly as he sighs, “I-I’m fine I-I just.” he squeaked out a bit, catching a sob before it came.  He does not want to cause a scene not here , not now. “The-the gummies came from Sh-Shii. Y-You can ask Vulpix a-a-a about it.”

Rattata frowned, unable to know what to do.  He could tell Gleam was on the verge of crying and was trying to stop it.  He isn’t used to whelps trying to stop from crying, and he’s no idea what caused the fit. He considered, rubbing Gleam’s back, he burried the fox’s muzzle into his own fur, rubbing his back, “Go on, go on, I’ve absorbed more than a few tears before.  You have your little plan for later, let it out now so it doesn’t come out then.” He soon felt his fur getting damp, hearing a soft muffled whine, and closed his eyes. What is wrong with Gleam, what in the name of Arceus happened to this little guy.  He’ll need to ask the whelps mother maybe, if he can stop himself from settling in against her the moment he sees her that is.

Rattata perked as a couple more torches outside lit up, and gently shuffled Gleam over whispering, “I think your mother is ready to start the show.  I know more lights are appearing, and she seems to be changing their colors now too.” Gleam perked up, sniffing, looking out curiously through teary eyes, Rattata softly drying them up for him

Gleam sighed, “Rattata, later, when relatively private, we talk?”  The mouse pokemon looked down at him curiously a moment then nodded, “Sure thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me reiterate. Gleam is a little volatile ball of emotions.
> 
> Anyway, Pele has some fun stunning people with the knowledge she has. To her seven years old is a long time to take to become a delphox. She knows under a proper trainer, or just given a lot of ~~steroids~~ rare candy a fennekin can become a delphox in a very very short time, in the human world. There honestly are only a few reasons why she isn’t stunned in surprise by being told it’s age point. One, she’d be constantly stunned due to how different pokemon in the human world and in the pokemon world are. Two, she is trained to not let such distractions bother her. Three, something else is also going on that is spoilers. So basically by this point she’s expecting things to be very different, and is more surprised when stuff is familiar to her (such as the market), she knows how to stay somewhat in control, and it’s a secret.
> 
> Gleam being scruffed is becoming something of a reoccuring theme. He does react strongly to it, very strongly. Later there will be a bit more discussion on it, but it does make him freak out slightly.


	16. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Pele to put on her show, while Gleam’s own plans to keep her from being overwhelmed hatch as well.

One by one around the plaza more torches began to light automatically.  The air beginning to warm softly, sparks of varying colors beginning to fly from one torch or another.  At first few had noticed them lighting, but now as sparks began to fly from the torches, jumping and skipping, landing on torch to torch, lighting them up mon began to notice.

What few noticed was the Delphox making her way down concentrating on drawing out her fire abilities, watching surely each errant spark, making sure the show went as she wanted.  She’s sure a few saw her walking along, but most were transfixed on her little show. Finally she took in a breath readying herself for the finale. She walked in front of the firepit, took another breath and drew all the sparks from the torches to herself, as if drawing power from them.  And cutting any more from being made, she heard more than a few gasp as they finally noticed her, she had her attention on the firepit, she took a moment to turn and wink to some who gasped, then put her attention back on the sparks. She pulled out some of her psychic abilities, drawing the sparks and tiny embers all around her, flowing about her body, then sent them twirling into the sky, only to rain down a moment later upon the logs.  A second after they all landed, she called a fire upon the logs themself, making a nicely loud fwoosh as they caught, turning back and smiling.

“Greetings, my name is Pele.  I’m going to be living here with my whelp, good to meet all of you.  Myself and my whelp would be the reason Rockruff went off on that mission earlier.  I do hope I can do my best to help around my town, seeing as my whelp loves it already.”

She watches as ears, leaves, fins, and vines all perked up, eyes looking over her.  Some whispering amongst each other, then she gets rushed up to with questions, most of them speaking at once, and with that she starts trying to get them to quiet down and answer their questions and talk one by one.  Soon enough she’s joined up front by both Flint and Sherry who are trying to help filter and get things calm. But by this point Delphox has dozens of unevolved asking about her, if she knew any of the other adults, where she’s been, how she got there, just bombarding with questions.  To their credit Sherry and Flint are managing to quiet down the crowd some and filter them, but the crowd is becoming more curious. And asking more questions she just has no answers for. Asking her where their parents are, if she can find them. Some of the younger ones asking to be held and picked up.

A soft musical sound started playing up, louder and louder, then it began being broadcast over the badges, a combination of various sounds arranged into a melody, the chatot among the group had apparently decided to make music, more than a few looked at their badges curiously as it started to play automatically.  The melody picked up into something of a playful beat and some giggling could be heard out in the background. Following up soon enough those who were curious saw all of the whelps known to the village having taken up a decently lit spot near a curtain, and were dancing together with the music. The younger Rattata and Eevee both up front.

Once the attention of enough pokemon was caught most of the badges cut out, only a select few continued playing to allow Chatot’s impromptu dance melody to continue being well heard, while the whelps started putting on a bit of a show, a decently well choreographed one, with the whelps moving together decently, though Eevee seemed a bit tumbly and like he was having issues keeping up.  When the whelps moved one way or another he’d losing his footing or tumble one way or another, then rush over to join, often butting up again Rattata.

Pele perked lightly as the crowd slowly quieted down around her, and started to giggle and watch the whelps do their little show, even if a bit bumbly.  Pele meanwhile started to wonder where her whelp was, he couldn’t be seen among any of the whelps. Then she looked down to Sherry and Flint, contacting them mentally, “ _ Did one of you plan this?” _

Sherry blinked, shaking her head lightly, “ _ I didn’t know this would be happening, and where are elder Eevee and Rattata.  I mean the whelps are safe but they are supposed to be watching them. It is kind of cute though, and it pulled away most of the crowd from you for the moment, you doing ok?” _

Flint for his part just noted he hadn’t heard anything about it.

Pele earfolded, “ _ They were starting to get to me, too much too fast, and I don’t know how to answer half of the questions they were asking.  I can see why Gleam or...well never mind right now, I can see why being center of attention could be, undesirable. _

Sherry perked, “ _ What was that you were about to bring up?  And geeze when did these whelps learn to get together so well, I didn’t know they all could dance this well, and decently in sync...though Little Vee is bumbling around cutely.  I hope younger Rattata doesn’t get annoyed, by it.” _

Pele hmmed, “ _ I’m going to check something since I’m free to move, but I believe I know what’s going on, and I’m betting the minders are hiding for a reason.”   _ With that sent she slowly made her way over to where she could see behind the curtain right next to the dancers..and grinned as she caught sight of what she figured.  Sylveon was using his feelers to hold Gleam in an upright position, as if he was standing. The fennekin was using a set of gestures to tell the rest of the whelps where to go and what to do, very simple commands that just allowed him to give general direction.  Sylveon and elder Rattata both seemed to be studying his movements, watching how he instructed through gestures, and she even saw the chatot near them singing away, matching it’s music to the gesture Gleam made. She then made note of the mon who had their badges still going...Shinx was among them.

_ “That little scamp, Sherry did you ever find out about the counter show?” _

“ _ What do you mean that little scamp?  And no I still hadn’t, I just hoped it wouldn’t interfere badly.”  _  The Vulpix replied.

Pele grinned, “ _ I think we’re watching it, this is the counter show.  I see the singing chatot, and the ringleaders behind this whole thing behind a curtain, I think Shinx was in on it too, probably anyone with a badge still on.  Little sneak apparently used the badges to gather together a small group to do this.” _

“ _ I, wait really?  He’ll be found out though and I know he wanted to be slowly re-introduced, why this all of a sudden.” _

_ Pele hmmed, “Give me a moment.”  She connected in another pokemon, “I see youuuuuuuu.” _

Sylveon perked a moment, but kept a steady hold of Fennekin, even as he faltered slightly _ , ‘I wh...Pele.  Uhhh hi there.” _

_ Vulpix frowned, “I can’t see him like you can Pele and I’m not that used to mental voices, you grab little fluff?” _

_ Pele sighed, “I’ll let all of you intro yourselves, though I will say this, I thought you two wanted to stay in hiding, I still havn’t even mentioned much about you to them yet?” _

_ “Oh sorry, Vulpix here.” _

_ “Rockruff, mostly enjoying the show to be honest.” _

_ “Ezelle here, and well yeah Gleam and myself still have misgivings about doing this but, we both have our reasons.” _

Vulpix sighed _ , “You’re taking the spotlight away from Pele, for a little show with your whelps?  Can’t you and Gleam let her have the limelight for even a little bit.” _

Pele earperked and sighed, looking back to Vulpix _ , “Quiet dear, I, that’s exactly why they are doing this, you two plan to show yourselves don’t you?  You grabbed their attention just when I was getting overwhelmed, and overrun by those excited to see an adult, especially as they started asking hard questions I couldn’t answer.” _

Ezelle smiled, _ “That’s my lo-- Yes you’re right.  Dear, you’ve just gone through your first dungeon ever, you dealt with all the whelps for a short period.  You’re in a town you know nothing about, and you’ve been dealing with, meh Flint needs to know if he doesn't already, you’ve been dealing with suddenly finding out your a guardian and the fact you’ve been pre-taught has been leaving you feeling, not that well.  I told you before my entire purpose is watching out for the mental well being of others. You’re stressed, heavily stressed. If I didn’t know that”  _ he paused in thought _ , “Ms. Ena’s home would hold stuff important to you, and would be private enough for you to just let it out, I wouldn’t even suggest going in there tonight.  We figured a 3 way share of important announcements might be able to ease it down some.” _

_ “What the, what do you know about what a Spirit Talker needs?  Why would the Hearth Keeper know anything at all about what the Spirit Talker needs?  And are you already hitting on Pele, she just came into town, what is wrong with yo---”  Vulpix started exasperated. _

Pele sighed quieting them both a moment, _ “I, thank you yes I could use a shared spotlight, it will be of great help but.” _  She paused a moment, “ _ Ezelle, you speak like you’ve known me for ages, like we are already friends, but I’ve barely met you.  I mean I trust you with Gleam but.”  _  She paused a moment more in thought, “ _ You know something else don’t you?  There is more to this, you said Ena knew I’d be here, you said you were told information I needed to know, to the point you weren’t even properly trained in your own skills in order to maintain knowledge I need.  What else is there, what connection do you have to the spirit talker?” _  She wiped away a tear, blinking it away.

Ezelle closed his eyes, “ _ Gleam knows, but he said you need some time to calm down first, and I only have information I was given and one small bit of proof.  And you’re mental voice sounds stressed, so I’d rather not push it. We are coming close to wrapping up this little show, and I need to pay attention to the next part very closely, otherwise it can wind up with a very upset Gleam.  Look get into Ms. Ena’s house, visit there, gain what information she has left behind for you there. And if you feel mentally up to it, feel free to visit my house in the night, and I’ll tell you what I know.” _

Pele took a bit of a breath then let it out heavily, “ _ Fine fine, will you be distracted if I keep you connected and we three talk?” _

“ _ That’ll be fine, just don’t expect a lot from me, other than I can tell you what I’m doing, just know in a moment rattata is going to take over the dancing, and I’m going to be watching Gleam’s composure closely and I need to interrupt a couple of cute scenes he has planned, one with a gesture, the other by actually interfering, as the end of the show.” _

_ “Hmm, tell me about this end show…” _

* * *

 

Gleam perked as he felt Ezelle jerk a moment, and his psychic organs began buzzing on him again.  Connection is strong enough for multiple people, Pele must have found them. She must realize how much he’s concentrating to have picked Ezelle instead of himself.  He hopes he’s ready for this next part and that Ezelle won’t be too distracted, he doesn’t like the idea of playing with his own emotions like he’ll be doing soon. But the actual actions will be cute, and will also show how vulnerable he is to a degree, and if they are going to find out he is here, they need to know he needs gentler handling.

He kept leading the whelps about for a bit, he encouraged them to stumble in cute ways here and there, to add to the adorable factor.  And perhaps to help hide the fact that when he joins in he’s not going to be that steady, he looks towards Rattata who nodded back to him, and gave Ezelle the signal to let him go, he soon flopped back down onto all fours, and turned the whelps attention over to Rattata, while he took up his initial position.  Doing his best to calm himself, this’ll be a two for one first. Rattata has never commanded anyone, not even directed, but he’s going to trust the mouse to do his best, and he personally has never been directly in any kind of show, only commanded on the sidelines. Hopefully he can see how well he obeys his own instructions, he keeps an eye on Rattata watching his gestures, ignoring the actual action, he feels nervous as heck, but he’s going to rely on Rattata solely to give him the right time to drop into the whelp pack, hopefully unseen.  Was this how his pokemon felt with him in the lead? Were they always nervous, hoping they would be led correctly?

Rattata’s tail suddenly signaled for Gleam to move in, when did that happen, what caused, crap.  He scampered his way into the whelp group, a space having opened up for him to get in, near the middle, providing good cover so once the whelps made their way back out he’d be seen as a splash of color, but perhaps not recognized yet.  He looked around the space a moment, and started trying to get into step with the whelps which way were they, oh right Rattata. 

He looked back up towards the mouse, got bumped into by the sandshrew, and started making his way, gulping lightly.  It was hard to see Rattata from his spot, but he tried to watch, especially since he had extra signals to watch for, the rattata’s tail signalling when he was to move through the ranks of the whelps one way or another.  Was that a signal? He started forward, and bumped into Fomantis, ears folding, then sandshrew back into him because he was out of position again. He tried to return to his position, already a bit tired of this idea, but he would do his best, trying not to whine at all the mistakes he was making and small bumps he was causing.  But he did his best to roll with it, suddenly space opened up in front of him, he caught it almost too late looking up to make sure of rattata’s tail, he moved into the new spot, bumping against Fomantis again, but now he’s in more position. Looking up he can see Eevee bumping against the younger rattata a few times himself, though that was part of Eevee’s act.

He slowly made his way up among the whelps as Rattata instructed, slowly getting better at actually following the directions from another.  But he was starting to get tired of running around, then perked as the final bit was starting to happen. Younger Rattata ‘getting tired’ of being bumped into so much finally pounced at eevee and the two started to playfight.  

Younger Rattata had agreed to go easy on Eevee due to his greater strength, and Eevee was just happy to pounce and play and wrestle, it honestly was one of his favorite things to do.  Eevee giving off a happy little yelp of surprise and soon the two were pushing each other around, while the rest of the whelps kept trying to do their little routine, but elder Rattata was instructing them to be a bit sloppy and pause, as if interested in the fight.

Their fight neared the end and Gleam noticed an opening from where he was at to Rattata and Eevee, as Rattata finally pinned down Eevee.  He looked to elder Rattata who gave him a nod, younger Rattata also seeing it braced himself, as it was finally Gleams turn to join in, this is where those who didn’t catch him join the whelp dance could finally see he is there.  He bolted out from the whelps right for the two, and bowled Younger Rattata right over, well actually he rolled with Gleam for effect.

Gleam definitely heard a few gasps from the crowd, a few askings of ‘is that’.  He heard a few soft mummerings of his name, no he’s a whelp and similar. Then he got lost in the fight.  They did an impromptu tournament before this, as a test to see how well he could do. He is, sadly, one of the weaker whelps right now, he couldn’t even take down Eevee unless he started using some more advanced tactics.  The two of them, himself and Eevee prove to be about equal with Rattata on raw pushing alone. Which he’s got himself lost in right now, he and eevee pushing and nudging and fighting with Rattata. By now bowling and rolling around their little impromptu stage.

The only issue is that this is one of the breaking points.  He’s still getting used to sensations and the like, he hadn’t noticed because he’d been coddled all that time, but he’s more sensitive to stimuli.  He’s already tired from bumbling about the dance, and now he’s in this fight. He can easily get overwhelmed if spent too long doing this and break down, again, Sylveon is doing what he can to monitor Gleam’s emotional points, to keep track of how close he is, and signal when the fight should end.

To his surprise the fight goes pretty fast, at least by his opinion, Rattata topples both of them over onto their backs, then instead of declaring victory and keeping them pinned he cuddles up all friendly like with the two, and the three share a few friendly licks and groomings.  He’s still getting used to doing that again, still feeling odd licking others, but he’s trying to remember he’s a mon again, this is normal, and he can hear the crowd aww and giggle over the sight.

Now for part 3, this is mostly to help Gleam relax again and wind down, once he’s had time to calm down, and the dancers some time to rest, part 3 comes where it’s confirmed to be him.  And he hears the signal having been set, one of the whelps lets out a surprise of “Gleam?”. Then another, and another, by now he’s moving to sit up, looking to the remaining whelps, repeating his name more, less questioningly and more excitedly now.  Rattata and Eevee both get up and make a break for it before the group starts heading towards him. And now time for the final part of part 3.

Gleam gets up and begins to bolt for it before the whelps come bowl him over again, he’s to lead them on a merry chase about the small stage, just do what he can to outrun them.  Their goal is to merely bowl him over, like happened when they first saw him at Ezelle’s house. He sadly has the lesser stamina than the whelps and they will catch him easier enough.  From there it’s up to him to stay as calm as he can, and Sylveon to get him out before it’s too much for him.

He yelps in surprise as he turns in an improper way and goes tumbling, the forepaw he hurt yesterday feeling bad again, the rest of the whelps continue the plan as normal and bowl over him, while he tries to hold in his whimpers of pain.  For their part the rest of the whelps aren’t being as intense as they were earlier, he’s being nosed at, licked, in general just greeted all friendly like, and some who are more hidden have laid up near him to help share warmth. But now he’s in pain and being otherwise overstimulated, he was going to fight the crowd but now he needs to make sure he doesn’t aggravate his paw, and they seem to take notice something is up, not being as eager as planned.  Finally he sees Eevee and Rattata peek in at the pile, the whelps having left space for those two to nose in at him.

Finally he hears what he was waiting for, though by now he’s actually relaxed, they’ve all stopped nosing and licking, a few did nose his hurt paw with worry, but otherwise he’s in the middle of a sleep pile.  If it wasn’t for his paw hurting he would have probably fallen asleep. Finally he hears the crowd gasp and a few utter ‘a sylveon?’ as Ezelle finally makes his appearance, he can feel the feelers wind though and he finally gets picked out and up, a bit of soothing energy radiating from them, enough to stop the threat of tears at least, but then he finds himself still held with a ribbon but moved into Pele’s paws, he can’t resist for the moment and blushes.

“Mama?  W..What are you.”  She shhhs to him softly, and noses over his hurt paw, Sylveon keeping a light hold on him a moment more, then Gleam blushes, “L L Let me s sit up an an finish p pwease?”

Pele sighed, holding him against her chest, letting him look out to the waiting crowd.  He looked down to Sylveon a bit appreciatively, pushing back against Pele more, while that feeler continued to keep him calm for now.

He tapped his badge back into broadcast on the before chosen members, Chatot having quited down sometime back, “Sooo, I hope you enjoyed the little show, though I doubt we were as fancy as well, Mom put on as a show.”  He took a bit of a breath, “Yeah I’m back, I’ve been told most of you know Celebi brought me here originally, and took me away, back home. He offered me a chance to come back, with my mom, he didn’t tell me I’d-I’d...well”  he blushes, “Be a whelp again.” his ears fell softly.

“Otherwise yes we have another small surprise, Eevee evolved early and well, he’s taken quite well to handling.”  he shifted meekly, “Us whelps as you can notice.”

“If I can be awake I do plan to speak more at tomorrows announcements.  But otherwise, today has been a stressful day, I don’t talk much of where I came from but, Mystery Dungeons don’t exist there.  So my mother has had to deal with me suddenly being a whelp, again. And went through one of the tougher Mystery Dungeons I know of, with the aid of some other members of Terraflare, as her first dungeon ever.  And spent a bit of time watching some of the whelps.”

He eartwitches sighing, “I-I-I’m still getting used to being more vulnerable and…” his ears fold, “helpless.  Yes I was fighting with all my strength against younger Rattata, and no that stumble was not planned. And Sylveon has never been one to be strong for the spotlight.  So what I’m saying is, enjoy the party and feel free to talk with us, but please take it easy, all of us need some time to cope with events lately.”

He looked up, “Mom I insist you stay with the party proper, I think I just need some support for my wrist.”  he looked back to the crowd, “I and Sylveon will go back to where the whelps are usually kept during parties.  It is ok to look in and say hi, just not too much at once please.”

He closed his eyes thinking then sighed, “And one more thing.  Rockruff you never were good with the badge menus and such. I know what you have all been told, that TerraFlare is a master team now, and both founders were given guild leader status.”

“I will be remaining in the background and not taking leadership position for now.  This change has left me a touch volatile. I just barely hurt my wrist and Sylveon is keeping me from breaking down crying.  But with that said, the guilds can’t have two leaders, I checked some before the party.”

Gleam looked to Sylveon, and double tapped his badge, a tone indicating an active status, “Sylveon, with the losses we all endured, your team has been without any leaders, as a result you have been incapable of gaining new recruits, as well as properly taking missions.  Sylveon Ezelle, I GuildMaster Gleam hereby raise your status within Team Elemental to team leader.”

Sylveon’s badged toned softly in acknowledgement and Gleam looked up, “As I said, I am not really capable of taking up my status as GuildMaster completely, so I will leave my guild status in suspended state for the most part, as I do not wholly trust myself at the moment.  Allowing Assistant GuildMaster Rockruff to continue his duty as he has been, though it may be best if he took a few days off as well. But before I do that I would like to offer this, if any of you have remained on your old teams, and would like someone on it declared team leader, find me with the whelps I’ll upgrade your status tonight.  If any of you have left your old teams, or joined team TerraFlare but wish to have your own team, contact me. TerraFlare is getting a bit too large as it is, and I’ve no issue making new teams.”

And I do mean that about my team getting too big.  If I must I’ll disband the team and rename the guild to the TerraFlare Guild so you can all be TerraFlare if you like.  But I’d rather the guild name reflect all of us more than a name I came up with to stop the team I was on from being called pokepals.”

Gleam grinned as he caught a bit of laughter from that.

Gleam finally nosed up at Pele, “Sylveon can handle my wrist, go ahead and get back to the party, and enjoy meeting everyone, ok mom?  This can be a celebration for all three of us.”

Pele sighed and let him go, while Sylveon carefully moved the whelp onto his back.  The crowed perking a moment, then looking to Gleam, someone finally asked, “Gleam, how long are you here for now?”

He smiled a bit, “I’m here to stay.”  The crowd cheered happily and let him on his way.

* * *

 

Thankfully despite the few errors Gleam made in the presentation, as well as dropping the bombshell that the actual GuildMaster was an apparently pretty weak whelp.  Things went about as Gleam had planned. Interest and attention were split between the three mon for the most part. And with them knowing the new Delphox was Gleams mother, some of the questions really quieted down.  With that said she still wound up giving more than a few mon hugs and cuddles. On the other side Ezelle gave about as much.

Gleam wound up sporting a fancy bandage on his wrist, to keep it from getting hurt again, a bit of time to himself to be upset over hurting himself.  Which he really didn’t want to do but it wound up happening anyway.

More than a few teams finally got new leaders.  And Gleam got in his share of cuddles and even a few playing with him from the rest of the town proper.  Before all the whelps got too tired there was one thing pretty much everyone insisted on seeing.

* * *

 

Gleam lowered his ears, “Really guys come on…”  He blushed softly, the whelp sitting on a table, Ezelle, Pele, Flint, Kencil, Taran, Shii, and Sherry all near him.

Sherry giggles, “Yes Gleam, pretty much everybody knew about your love for them it seems.  And they all want to see you enjoy them for once, instead of hiding how much you like them in dungeons.  Besides it’ll pretty much be nothing but these for you for a good while anyway. And anyone feeding you will be giving you these anyway.  Now open up.”

Gleam blushed much more, looking before him, his supper on the table, pretty much everyone crowding around to watch him eat, as Vulpix held a gummy to his maw, he finally opened his maw and began having his dinner, of more than a few gummies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends the introduction to this series. I had orginally planned for the entire series to all be one book, but I realized I wanted Guardian stuff, I wanted more time to just let Gleam have cute fluffy time.
> 
> And I didn’t want the two to overly interfere with each other. And Thus comes this end to this book.
> 
> I’ll do one more chapter, it’ll be samples of the start of the next two books, I know for the Guardian book it’ll be from a point of view not found in the book. We’ll see what I do for the one that more follows Gleam.
> 
> Despite little in the way of comments on these stories, this has been fun to write. I also figured a fluff fields story might be a bit much for most people. This book has served as a nice introduction to the setting though. Now I just need to work on making it so days can take less than multiple chapters to finish. But at the same time that feels counterproductive, part of the fun of this for me, is those small interactions, Gleam just getting to enjoy Gummis. A mother caretaking her child, which I’ve tried to not heavily indulge in, trust me I’ve been brief on it! I could easily fill a single chapter with doing bathtime by itself.
> 
> I’m still trying to gather how into chars heads I want to be, it tends to change a bit.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this introduction to my little pokemon world, the Pokemon Guardians world. I hope I’ve got you curious enough about this whole Guardian thing, what it is, how it fits with the world. I hope I’ve got you interested in the character of Gleam, and that you’ll want to see him have a happier time in life, as well as see, perhaps, exactly what messed him up so badly.
> 
> I honestly like my final idea of what the Guardian’s are as an explination for how the pokemon world as a whole works, but that’ll take time to get to.
> 
> But finally, this chapter was delayed (sadly) but it also made for a funny. This chapter is being released on Christmas Day.
> 
> So to all of you out there, Merry Christmas. And thank you for reading.


	17. A Preview of Things to Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previews for the next two books.
> 
> The Healing of a Whelp  
> And  
> The Studies of a Spirit Talker

##  The Studies of a Spirit Talker

 

The party was finally winding down.  Kencil heard her big sis sigh, she felt a bit of apprehension from the mon, but mostly her sister seemed tired.  On the other hand Pele had earlier watched while Ezelle carried away a certain little Fennekin who had fallen asleep in the middle of eating a gummi, and that poor mon felt a strong longing.  Say what she might about misgivings on gaining Gleam as a whelp, she loves him with all her heart.

She perked as Pele looked to her, “Shall we head home too?  That sylveon now has me curious and, slightly apprehensive about this whole thing.”

Kencil looked up to her curiously, “Why is that?”

Pele reached out taking her hand, Kencil went along with it and fought hard the urge to blush, felt more like her mother taking her hand to lead her along, “He, well wait.”  Pele paused a moment then mental contact was made, “ _ Better, when I dropped the whelps off with him, we talked a bit.  He broached being a spirit talker with me, already knew I was a pokemon trained by Gleam.  He said Ena told him and his father I would be coming, that she had seen it in the future. She apparently even knew I’d have this whole thing with suddenly knowing stuff, as she had his father teach him things I need to know, so that he can share it with me.” _

_ Kencil was definately confused to hear that, “He, he knew you’d be here?  He was waiting for you? And even knew you were a Spirit Talker? What in Arceus name..” _

Pele shook her head, “ _ No idea, other than Ena told him. He also said I’ll be able to open Ena’s seal, that she left stuff inside for me for when I came here.  He also seems to know, something else, and has apparently been told by Gleam it might be too stressful to tell me right now. Plus Sylveon thinks what I find in here might be stressful too.” _

_ Kencil considered,  _ “ _ He might be right, but either way I’ll stay with you sis, maybe help keep you grounded.  Though from what I remember of mom’s place, while it is unusual in it’s build and furnishing it, shouldn’t be too stressful.  Though he knows something else that might be a bit much for you? And Gleam made him promise not to tell, odd. I might talk to him lat---oh geeze he got out of that promise I forced him to make earlier.  I need to contact Sylveon right quick, see if he’s willing.” _

She activated her badge and set it to buzz instead of tone the Sylveon and waited till eventually, speaking softly, “This is Sylveon what’s up?”

“This is Ralts,” She considered for a second, they both belong to something of a secret team, “Ya know, this is Kencil.  Better. I hope I havn’t woken anyone up, I was wanting to talk with you a bit about a promise Gleam made me earlier today, see if you could handle it.  How is he anyway?”

Sylveon replied eventually, “Really, you want to go by your name?  Well if you insist Kencil. Gleam is sleeping decently, he’s kinda of squirmy, I’ve had to bundle his scarf around his legs to keep him from moving too much.  I hate trapping him like that but he’s quite a fitful sleeper.”

Pele sighed, “Nightmares..he needs a body close to him to help him calm.”

“Pele says that he’s a close quarters sleeper due to nightmares.  So anyway about the thing I wanted to talk about. Gleam had multiple moments of upset today, but one that broke him pretty hard happened in the dungeon, involving Pele.  He’s been keeping himself distracted so as not to need to process what was going on. But he needs some time to actually be upset over what happened. Scream, cry, wail. Just however it comes out.  Bottling it up and ignoring it will only make it worse. If he wakes up can you get him to tell you what happened on the final floor of the dungeon, and remind him of the promise he made to me if needed?  I hate to burden you with it, but I’m going to be with Pele in mom’s old house, as moral support in case she needs it.”

“Oh Pele is there?  Hey darling. Anyway I see, I think I can do it, Pele mentioned to me she broke him pretty hard there.  So admittedly I am curious on what happened. I, I’d hate to see him cry that hard but, I understand what you mean about bottling it up.  Sure I’ll go ahead and do it if he wakes up before it’s too late. Enjoy seeing Ena’s old house.”

“Hey Sylveon, what is it with you and Pele.  I mean seriously she mentioned what you two talked about when she dropped the whelps off.  And the way you speak with her…”

“Sorry you’ll need to ask Gleam, which I understand why he’d want it kept quiet.  It’s information that I got from Ena, and I have a very low amount of ways of proving it’s true.  I think he also wants to keep from spreading what he feels could be misinformation, but I’m pretty sure it’s true.  Actually you and me let’s talk later, I can ask you for a bit more proof, probably Vulpix as well. Anyway mind if we cut it now?  I just heard Eevee whine a touch from all the noise, and it might affect Gleam too, I’d rather not have two grumpy whelps.”

“Sure thing Sylveon, Kencil out then.”

“Also, since we are sharing, both of you, Ezelle is fine, Ezelle out.”

Pele rubbed her head, “ _ More proof from you? _ ”

Kencil shakes her head, he’s got her confused, “ _ I, I’ve no idea.” _

Pele sighs, “ _ There is something about him, and more, I dunno I’ll just blame Celebi again.  So how did you like Gleam’s little show earlier _ ?”  She could feel Pele’s apprehension, but why is there an undercurrent of fondness when talking about that sylveon?  Must be the something about him she mentioned, but she seems confused by it herself.

Otherwise Kencil considered the show and smiled lightly, “ _ It was rather adorable, which I think was the point.  Try to get the crowds attention with the whelps doing something cute.  Though I felt a bit sorry for him, he doesn’t seem that good at being commanded.  He was low key panicking most of the time he was doing his thing, and his mistakes in movement, unlike eevees, were genuine. _ ”

Pele shrugs softly, “ _ He’s a leader not a follower.  Or something like that. His entire set of skills involves keeping his focus as wide open as he can, so he can catch what is coming.  Taking commands requires almost full focus on the command giver, sparing just enough to see what is immediately ahead of you. Though I might consider working with him on that, if he wants to put on more shows like that.  A lot of the others looked like they enjoyed it, and having something like that every so often could be cute.” _

_ “Makes sense I suppose, shame he hurt his wrist.  He really held back crying there, but the other whelps seemed to have reacted to it right away.  Unless that soft cuddle pile was part of the show.” _

_ Pele shook her head, “A pile yes...but they were supposed to overrun him, and basically being excitedly overstimulating him, with Sylveon coming in to save him right before he broke down fully.  We were going to change it slightly from his plan before the wrist thing happened. I’m still doubting we should be letting him walk on his own too often.” _

“ _ Part of me wants to say be careful or you’ll coddle him too much.  But he is pretty young. Still he’s going to hurt himself more over time, most whelps do, so you need to get used to that too.  Remind me, and make sure I check his age, I mostly can do it because I know some early Fennekin stuff. Anyway looks like we are at, well, let’s stop saying Ena’s home..it’ll be your home.” _

Kencil and Pele stopped in front of Ena’s old home and she watches as Pele looked over the house, then she blinked as the emotions she felt from Kencil indicated, familiarity?  Like she knows something about this building already that’s odd, she must be misreading Pele, surely..

“So how did Ena seal this place, did you see?”

Kencil shook her head, “I’ve no idea, I just know none of us can enter.  And now I realize those who always advocated her house never be broken into, for fear of it being dangerous to do so, were the guardians.  But from what you’ve asked I take it you’ve gotten nothing?”

“Correct, I just, no flash of inspiration, I’m a bit disappointed.  And happy. The inspiration is annoying but..I recognize this building shape from the outside. But nothing about it should work correctly, at least I don’t think it should.”

Kencil huhed? “What do you mean, this building is familiar to you?”  Ok maybe she wasn’t misreading Pele.

“Yeah it’s a human design, one I think I know well.  But you need special...things made by humans for it to work.  I mean an electric type can be a good backup, but usually you need them inside, and electric types get tired too fast to be a lot of use beyond emergency.  But for instance the door is supposed to open and close on it’s own, and this pad here would normally be the locking mechanism. But it doesn’t seem to be on.”

Pele suddenly perked, “What the, a spirit?  Do I have enough..” 

Kencil perked, a spirit?  Here? Who could it be and why?  Pele is definitely interested but then confused then.

Kencil gasps as a familiar figure forms around Pele, and she longs, she longs hard.  Especially as Pele steps back, revealing the other figure fully, her eyes went wide, “Mom?!”  In front of her stood Ena, not fully there, obviously summoned, and Pele they, they, they look exactly the same, exactly the same.

Mom was holding her own twig, focusing on it mostly, but her head moved a bit, “You would bring Kencil, I’m sorry dear I’m not here, this is just a recording, and I sense I need to make this quick.”  The image looked to Pele, “You know how this works already, all you need to do is turn it back on--” Kencil didn’t even listen to the rest, Mom. She is seeing mom again. And Pele, the two look alike, no wonder it’s been so hard.  Celebi really did replace mom with Pele. And even Pele is upset over that fact. This, this is sooo wrong! And yet mom seems, she’s ok with it, she even is leaving Pele some sort of instruction. Wait what was she saying? Why did she start to stroke Pele’s cheek...but then she’s gone.

Kencil looked to Pele, her eyes filled with tears, “She, she, she did.  She, She knew you’d be here. As as she was talking she, she saw you there in, in her flames.  But, but that, yes that was, was mom, sis..”

Pele for her part, was longing, a strong heavy longing.  Pele’s breathing was picking up heavily, she actually put her paw on her own chest, she was just trying to calm down.  Kencil did the only thing she really could being so much smaller, she hugged the bigger mon around the leg, a moment later she found herself picked up and held close.  She tried to not get too comfortable but, but she’s so much like mom.

Pele finally calmed down decently, ”O, okay Ezelle was right this..this, something about here it..it’s affecting me so strongly I I don’t know why.  I saw her, and she just, it was like she was trying to touch my cheek, and I...I wish to see her again now.” She shook her head.

“She spoke like I’ll be able to turn it on.  I’m completely out now though, I think I could only get her then because she was aiding me somehow.  But I.” Pele closed her eyes softly.

She moved closer to the door, and started poking, tugging, pulling around a side area seemingly erratically till finally part of it gave away, exposing part of the insides. “Really, would turning it on really be this easy, there shouldn’t be any energy unless..a battery of course it would.” 

Pele pushed some part of the inner workings, and Kencil heard a click, then Pele re-closed the part she pulled away, as lights started to show up beneath it.

Pele just laughed, shaking her head, “And of course I need a password.  Not just that simple.”

For her part Pele was seeming, her emotions were a bit out of whack, high tense.  But feeling a bit manic, right now on a high, full of energy.

Kencil couldn’t help it, this set of emotions she feels, they are starting to build high in Pele, she’s worried, this can’t be good for Pele’s stress.  Yeah she got some kind of light, mom would say turned on? “Sis, we can save this for another day, you need somewhere to calm down. You’ve..you’ve got it turned on please.”

Pele laughed, it didn’t sound normal, an almost cackle, “Oh no, don’t worry, we’ll have somewhere, this building, it has a downstairs dosn’t it.  A large downstairs I bet huh? All I need to know is the way in, what did she say my favorite flower. What are the markings on this thing.” She studdied the pad, her laughter more manic, Kencil starting to realize she’s in Pele’s grip, in trying to be support she’s become trapped.

Kencil frowned, “Pele please!”  Instead the Delphox just pulled out her twig, she didn’t light it, she just stared at the twig, then started to push at random part of the lit up portion of the door, some sort of odd sound coming out with each push.

But then, then the door just slid open.  Pele did know how to do it, she knew how to enter mom’s old home.

And Pele just walked in like she owned the place, they entered the main room, this was where mom did her dealings with the public, Kencil was rarely in this area, but to her understanding it’s set up more for her ability to detect the future.  And Pele, pele, she was seeming more manic, she was laughing, her motions were pointing to her finding something incredulous.

Pele opened the doorway and entered into the dining and food preperation area Ena had.  Some of the old food serving items were still here. Kencil by now was starting to remember so much, feel so much.  This was her old home, where mom was, but now it’s her and Pele, and Pele’s emotions are dangerously high.

Then she perked, Pele’s emotions changed, longing, strong strong longing, pain, she was feeling hurt, from what Kencil could tell she missed something.  And tears started to flood Pele’s eyes while she stared into space, and she steadies herself using a table. Kencil tried maybe a mental connection.

“ _ Pele please, pele!  Snap out of it sis. What’s wrong!” _

For all her efforts Kencil got a gentle kiss on the forehead, and she was shhed lovingly.  And otherwise Pele went quiet. And by now her emotions where becoming overwhelming. Kencil had to actively stop looking at them.  And yet Pele acted calm, it was as if she was watching something, or living a memory. Is she remembering herself as mom now perhaps?  How far did Celebi go when it came to changing big sis?

Pele carried her out of the kitchen back to the main room, then down a different hallway that started at the middle back of the room, traveling down to a door.  Kencil knew this place already, it’s where her and little sis would sometimes spend the day playing. It had a pen with a soft bottom and toys. And Pele just stands there, watching, waiting quietly.

Kencil had to try again, “Sis, sis, what’s going on, what are you doing, please sis,  you’re so quiet. You’re scaring me. Pele please!”

Instead Pele carried her over to an old chair, one that allowed simple back and forth movement, a simple rocking motion.  Then she perked as Pele sung, a variation of an old song mom used to sing.

“Hush little one it’ll be all right, Sisters going to hold on tight.  When you awaken tomorrow you’ll see, you’ll again be full of energy. So rest my sister on through the night, until the coming of the morning light.”

Kencil couldn’t help it, this just reminds her so much of when she was a whelp, she’s being treated just like she was one now, and yet..and yet.  The rocking, everything, just like mom..she..she just. Why, how, why is this, this still relaxing. She’s starting to blush not just because she was treated like this as a whelp, but because it’s working.

And into slumber she slips.

* * *

 

##  The Healing of a whelp.

* * *

Something is wrong with Gleam and it’s worrying Ezelle greatly.  He finally stops, nothing got a reaction from the fennekin. Then he perked, bringing his other feelers down, gently holding them on the fennekin, pretending he’s rubbing the kit but he noticed a new sensation from his feelers.  It’s very dull but, helplessness, he’s detecting a feeling of helplessness in Gleam, and something else..something he doesn’t have a word for but it’s dulling Gleam’s feelings, it isn’t that he’s having problems feeling them, something is dulling those feelings.

* * *

 

Ezelle sighed, “But all of them, you got sort of attached didn’t you?  It isn’t just that you were there for their deaths. They were what you had in the way of parents, uncles, aunts.  However you want to put it, they were the adults you got attached to, and saw as family.” Ezelle ear folded at Gleam nodded again, looking down, “And you were the only one to see all of them die. Each and everyone died in your presence, or ordered you to leave them to die.”

* * *

 

Ezelle shhhed him softly, “You don’t need to explain yourself.  We can talk later when you arn’t a ball of emotions and feelings ok?  Just try to calm down, while daddy talks to his team mates, ok little twig?”  Gleam nodded more, blushing.

His two teamates looked to Ezelle, mouths wide open, “Papa? Daddy?  Ezelle what is--”

Ezelle cut them off, “Quiet, now, he’s humiliated about it enough as it is.  It’s a lot to explain everything but, last night I made a mistake. Didn’t realize I was making it, and didn’t realize why I was making that mistake.”  He sighed softly looking to Gleam, “I’m sorry to be talking about you while you are here my son but, I need to explain what’s going on. Don’t worry these two will keep quiet about what’s gone on, you can trust them.  I know Hoppip was wanting a chance to play and train with you again anyway.”

Gleam for his part nodded, but perked listening, “M-M-mistake?”

Ezelle sighed, “Don’t take it badly Gleam, you’re my boy, and I won’t take it back.  I just didn’t mean for you to imprint on me but, it’s already happened, I’ll deal with the fallout from Pele myself ok?”

* * *

 

He looks back to Gleam, “Now let me guess, as I said something scares you a bit.  You feel it’s silly, not something you should need help on, you’ve gotten past it long ago or whatever.”  He pulls Gleam up to his muzzle, nose to nose, staring into his eyes, “No matter how smart you are, no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much you can still teach others.  You are still a whelp, that means you also need help like a whelp, even if what scares you seems silly to your adult mind.”

Gleam’s ears fall as he’s talked at and talked about, then suddenly eye to eye, whinin and gulping, he nods, whimpering a bit, blushing hotly and looking down, “scared another bad dream.”

Skitty perks, “Is that it?  Even I wouldn’t want another bad dream..” He looks up to Ezelle, “Can we just.all hang out with him while doing our little pre-meeting?  Maybe with us around he’d feel better? Just laying close. He can at least drowse comfortably that way.”

* * *

 

And with that he scruffs Gleam, who yelps then whines lightly as he’s carried right off and the two head to out of town.  The little fennekin going limp, gulping softly and watching as scenery goes by, trying for the time to keep calm. While a nearly wild skitty carries him off, and now out of town.

* * *

 

Flint growls more at Gleam, a bit threateningly, who for his part continues to stay pretty well still, though Ralts continues to detect worry from the kit, in fact she’s starting to get it more and more from the room, while Flint continues, “What are you even trying to insinuate, nothing is wrong.  I have been leading the pack pretty well. The best I can, then you swoop in, think you can change the pack? I am not going wild.”

Gleam earfolds and sighs, closing his eyes, “Then why are you threatening your partner?  The one who when you saw for the first time in months you immediately curled around and slept with?  Why are you leading a pack, and not a guild? Why are you worried about me changing the pack, when I just want to help the town rebuild?  Being able to be with you, my partner. And all of you, my friends. And to help rebuild this town is the entire reason why Celebi let me come back.”

Flint perks a moment then flinches, tail lowering as he backs off a little bit, closing his eyes.

Gleam sighs, “Don’t feel too bad, you arn’t the only one driven near wild.  You just happen to be one of the more important. But this is why you need a vacation.  Before you wind up like I am.”

That got a few peoples attention, with vulpix starting to speak up, “Gleam, while I see what you mean about Rockruff, you arn’t anywhere near wild.”

At that point Gleam laughed, and laughed hard, most started wondering what was wrong.

* * *

 

Gleam tapped his badge, removing his suspension for the time being, then opened up command mode, “Activate full menu, authorization Gleam, List roles for Fennekin.”

“Roles for Fennekin: Gleam:  GuildMaster, Team Leader for Team Terraflare, Team Founder for Team TerraFlare.  Trainer.”

Pele earperked looking at Gleam, “Wait what?”

Gleam continued, “I found that secret mode Rattata just mentioned.  Trainer Gleam would like to add Rockruff Flint to his party.”

That really got Pele’s attention, everybody perked though, and Rockruff stood up his badge glowing in acknowledgement, then Gleams badge spoke out again, “Rockruff Flint registered to Trainer Gleam, added to current team. Pepper, and Flint.”

Pele started, Gleam shhhed a moment, “Just a bit more.  Status Flint.”

“Rockruff Flint, Status…”  At that point it read off his nature, and his approximate stats, the current moves he had reserves for, but it got to the fun part soon, “Wilding status, 80% wild.”

Flint earperked at that and whined, gulping and folding his ears. A few others looking at the rockruff worriedly.

Pele perked, “Gleam this, this sounds like…”

Gleam nodded, “Trainer command, connection status.”

“PC unavailable, Transfer Unavailable, Trade unavailable, central connection unavailalbe.”

“Some of that was for Pele’s benefit, this, this is using technology of where I’m from.  Specifically technology that is used in capturing and training pokemon.”

* * *

 

Gleam earperked, mrrfing and opening his eyes slowly, “I spose you’re ready for me to get up with an attack like that though.”  he blink blinks a moment, at the scene before him, “What the…” He gulps lightly, seeing straight walls, not the curved one’s he’s used to in most pokemon construction.  The windows, are actual rectangular windows with glass in them, and covered by shades. Is that a dresser over there? He starts to whine a little bit, Flint looking down at him worriedly.

“Gleam, Gleam what’s wrong?  What’s wrong Gleam.”

Gleam for his part whimpers a bit more, looking up at Flint worriedly, he squirms more, “Wh, where are we?  I...th-this looks human, did we get captured by someone? What happened I--”

* * *

 

Gleam listened in, while he wanted to sleep, in all honesty his sleep had already been ruined twice, at this point he wasn’t sure he’d be able to rejoin his nap.  He more wanted some soft talking to help keep him half awake, but even still he was slowly waking up fully. Felt a bit sorry for Bunnelby though, she was shaking, nervous, and worried.  Unfortunately for her, part of her wild tendencies could be quite destructive, she’s been apparently digging up quite a storm. In her mind making tunnels to help people get around, is how she’s slowly rationalized it, but a lot of the houses that are having issues, have been due to her digging.

As much as that is troublesome, it isn’t her fault in full.  Like other’s she’s slowly going wild, he wonders how to handle that.  He really should be trying to rest though but, here is another friend going wild, forget rest he'll just have to deal with being cranky.  She's probably heavily useful in the dungeons and is overworked there. Best thing to do is to probably find a good outlet for her urge to dig.  He feels her shaking again, she's scared she's in big trouble or something, he hasn't been paying enough attention to the talk to know exactly why.

Well he needs to yawn anyway, see if he can give her something cute, if he's some cute whelp he might as well use it.  With that thought he just lets some of his instincts take over, rolling onto his back, giving off a high pitched squeaky tongue curling yawn, stretching out his legs, his forelegs winding up shaking from the long stretch, and he ends with rapidly swating at the air a few times, just really from reflex.

He's satisfied when he heard Bunnelby go oh my then giggle a little bit.  He's surprised when one of his swats catches the end of an ear. Hearing Bunnelby giggle a moment, he gets the idea and begins to paw and grab at the ear which she giggles and starts to bob up and down, in and out of his reach. Right now he's just being silly and playing along with it but considers and begins to more actively try to grab at the ear.  He could use some exercise anyway, after a bit he finds she lets him grab the ear, next thing he knows he's popped it into his muzzle and is lightly gnawing on it.

* * *

 

Sherry starts to pad over, and soon there is a wall of whelps in front of her, “Get Mama!”

Sherry pauses, she’s never seen the whelps act quite this way, “Look I just want to see Gleam what are all of you doing, why are--”

“Get Mama!”

Flint already having the idea begins contacting Pele and Rattata.  While Sherry frowns, “I just want to see little fluff, you shouldn’t interrupt his training.”  The whelps frowns, “Get Mama! Gleam hurt get Mama! Stop being mean to Gleam, get Mama!”

Sherry perked, definitely caught off guard by that.

* * *

 

Pele sighs, “I would honestly not try to burden you with this, but all of you started on your own.  And I would like us to work together, and for all of you whelps to be able to calm down about trying to take care of Gleam.  That is our job as adults, as minders. I do appreciate that each of you love Gleam enough to help watch out for him.” She looks to Rattata again, “But when you cry, and say sorry for not watching Gleam close enough, well something is off yaknow?  You say sorry for when you accidentally do something and mess up, not when you don’t correctly do someone else's job. I appreciate you watching out for Gleam, but what happened is not your fault, it’s Sherry for misunderstanding how training works.”

* * *

 

Gleam looked up in surprise, his ears perking, jaw dropping.  Tears of both embarrassment and joy coming to his eyes even as he starts to blush as he looks up at the Aggron.  “M-M-M-Macqoyre?! Is-is-is is that really you? H-h-how did you get he--”

Gleam’s train of thought is stopped in it’s tracks as 4 more very familiar adult pokemon step out.  Looking down at the young whelp, they all seem happy to see him.

Gleam just left speechless, and rather embarrassed to be seen as he is.

* * *

 

Pele closes her eyes then looks to Shii, “I must warn you, be ready for what is to come.  I did not want to cause you too much pain but, now that you’ve been dungeon trained it’s time I finally got another Guardian.  But---”

She nods solemnly, “I know, I’ve talked with the others about their little trinkets.  I get to see Mom die, but this will let her be with me in spirit.”

Pele sighs, “I know it won’t be fun but, at least you’ll know what happened.  And as always I’ll be here for you my dear.”

Shii shakes her head, “You still haven’t figured it out?  It’s obvious, from how Gleam acts how they died. What happens when little bro has nightmares, the guilt he feels.  I already know what happened, I already know how they died. The fact he’s so messed up from what we are about to see just tells me I probably won’t hate him too much after seeing this.”  Shii sighs.

Pele perks, “What do you mean, you already know what happened to them?  You won’t hate him? Shii?”

Shii sighs, “I might as well prepare you for it then, I’m as prepared as I can be.”

Shii looks up to Pele, “Pele, he killed them, he killed both of them, himself.  No accident, no running away, no being shielded and protected like the others. He murdered my parents.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I was happy to get the preview of the Spirit Talker up now, that book spoils a bit into The healing of a whelp, it’ll prob be around late Feb before I can post any Spirit Talker books at all.
> 
> Otherwise these are all the previews i could easily do, i am still writing both books so the previews for whelp includes some stuff from the books, but the last two specifically may even be in the wrong order, as I am not to them writing wise. But something similar to them will appear later in the book. Otherwise I’m posting this on December 30’th, I hope everyone enjoys the new year. I don’t normally do new years vows, but I think I’ll do one for this year.
> 
> Until they are finished, I vow to post at least 1 chapter a week for my books. And each chapter should take up at least 11 pages in the program i am using to write them, unless correct story pacing really requires a slightly shorter chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Well the prologue to the epilogues went on longer than I meant it to. But I wanted to show returning to the world from the trainer’s perspective, as well as put a few things in place for later. Honestly I imagine professor oak as his professor, but I’m not quite sure who his professor is, I just know the professor loves him greatly and worries over Gleam as if he is his own son.
> 
> Yes upon returning Gleam could speak pokemon, he could understand, and yes he could use some moves. It’s seen as a consolation prize that he retains some of his abilities upon returning. Given his personality wish seemed one of the better choices for abilities..and fennekin could learn it.
> 
> So I’ve offered little backstory to everything, but most of what he did as a “explorer of the cosmos” isn’t really important to know. If world mechanics or past events become important I’ll let it be know...this will include mentioning a quirk in how mystery dungeons can work. Yeah I’m following the line of pokemon in mystery dungeons are largely illusions made by the dungeon. With occasional real pokemon being found lost/wandering/seeking challenges, etc. Recruiting a wandering pokemon is possible..and would be how things work.
> 
> And yeah..partial nuzlock world..losing does not mean dieing, just major injury, and death is generally accidental unless against someone who is being ruthless.
> 
> Feel free to leave a bit of feedback if you like.


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